"Clarity, clarity, surely clarity is the
Most beautiful thing in the world"
- George Oppen
<To the Stones> is a portrait of the stones Boomoon came across during his trips. These stones, usually in deserted places, don't even have names that anyone would just pass by without noticing them. The artist placed them in the center of his picture in order for them to become the masters of a vast space. But they are not like heroes dominating the entourage, they are rather silent residents who appear to keep the memories of the place they are at. Boomoon conveys the views of stones as they are, without adding any actions to them. To achieve this, he utilized his excellent techniques.
The representation of the “as is” status cannot be obtained mechanically or automatically. Photographically reproducing the “as is” status requires the selections, imagination, technical know-how and aggressive approaches. It is not a creation ex nihilo, but actually a discovery of the true aspects attained from interacting with the object present in close proximity. The title <To the Stones> tells us that the stones are not merely objects, but partners that interact with the artist.
The sensations of Boomoon's <To the Stones> stem from the art of presenting things as they exist, by placing us at the exact place the artist was standing, and from the experience of awakening at the same moment to both ourselves and to things. Discovering the true aspects of a being gives rise to respect and self-reflection.
For an artist who took strict precautions not to arouse or imply even a slight meaning because a message would cover the image, the choice of stones as the subject is surprising. The oriental culture has cultivated a religious, aesthetic view about natural stones and these stones are symbols of nature that have become part of the culture and also which emanates a literary aura. As a poet has once stated that “the beauty of stones lies in the beauty of everlasting life,” stones and rocks have been worshiped as nature's concentrated vitality since the beginning of history, and were the “the roots of clouds,” taking its place as an elegant theme of paintings for centuries. Moreover, there is the “Water Stone” which is a form of contemplation and adoration for stones.
Boomoon, gazing at the stones, does not lack such cultural background, but the image he has about stones allows us above all to feel the texture, temperature and humidity that stones have, as if the stones were right there in front of us, even before we try any cultural interpretation. Although we are not mineralogists or geologists, by paying close attention to the stones we would be able to understand the natural principles creating the landscape - climate, ecosystem and time. As Boomoon let the stones, the symbols of solid immobility, to express the constantly changing nature, <To the Stones> is very much in line with his other series works, notably <On the Clouds>, <Stargazing> and <Naksan>. Not only are his works focused solely on visual clarity, but also are suggesting an image open to all possible meanings, which distinguishes Boomoon's perspective about stones from the traditional and cultural views.
Stones are memories of the universe. Mankind has built and recorded their history on stones, hence making it impossible but to stop and associate time with stones. Guiseppe Penone, who imitated the form of stones "sculpted" by the rough currents of the valleys onto the stones retrieved from the mountains in his <Essere fiume>, said : “Everything is fluid. Stones are equally fluid. Even mountains eventually break down to become sand. It is all a matter of time. Only mankind, which lives for a very short period of time, can say that some are soft and some are solid.” Georg Brecht engraved “VOID” on a stone he found at a park in Münster, and titled his work <VOID-Stone>. The word “VOID” seems to be a spell contradicting the opacity of the stone, reminding us that even solid rocks, along with the vanity of records, eventually dissipate to become nothing. The time of stones is exactly at the antipode of the time of the modern world so focused on the efficiency of speed.
As a portrait of the stones that the artist ardently stared at, <To the Stones> represents what the rocks have to say. The stones show the time of nature, each with their own expressions and forms. Stones, following and also dominated by the principles of time, even to the point of becoming insignificant as a grain of sand in the wind, have no ostentation at all. As much as the images hold clarity, the voices of the stones are transparent and certain. The artist is silent and allows the images to reach out and speak.
Boomoon's approach and attitude are close to those of the British and American modernist poets, who refused moralism, romanticism and symbolism in favor of a new poetry based on the "intensity of seeing" favoring the direct treatment of the thing. The British Imagism and the American Objectivism which considered the objectivity as the “principles of sincerity” were the movements of “the Poets of the Eye.” Francis Ponge, whom Boomoon frequently mentions, also refused to be a poet singing of his sentiments and believed that inventing a language to correctly convey the quotidian objects and facts was the role of poets. Ponge vividly described and defined the objects which were too familiar to be looked at or spoken of, using a totally new perspective based on scientist-like observations and imagination.
Photography is a technique invented for objective representation and the photographic images become equals with the photographed object. However, in today's world flooded with all sorts of photographic images, thinking of and using the transparent language of photographs as a medium of expression, unlike merely using its effects, is impossible without yearning for sincerity such as the “Poets of the Eye” did. Only when objectivity meets clarity can it be the most beautiful thing in the world, as wrote George Oppen, for whom life was far more of a priority than poems.
