Can the Methods of Mono-ha (もの派) Realize the Being of Mono (もの) as a Work of Art?: Via the Phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty

Jimin Son

doi:10.17326/jhsnu.77.2.202005.435

Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University

2020, 77(2), pp.435-470
DOI : 10.17326/jhsnu.77.2.202005.435
Publisher : Institute of Humanities, Seoul National University
Research Area : Other Humanities

Jimin Son ¹

¹단국대학교

ABSTRACT

The name “Mono-ha” was given at the beginning of the 1970s by demeaning critics to the Japanese artists who formed a loose constellation around the theory of Mono, the latter term designating a specific understanding of the being of an immediate, literal thing or object. Their working method, expounded predominantly by Lee Ufan and Kishio Suga through texts and works, became a fast-spreading phenomenon in the Japanese and international art world. While most of these artists continue to work and exhibit independently to this day, the necessary philosophical research on the sole artistic motive of the constellation, namely the theory of Mono, remains largely insufficient. To address this issue, this article focuses on the role played by the phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty to which Lee turned to clarify the above method shared commonly by the artists. Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception not only brings to the fore the process by which the artists’ inquiry into Mono develops into their individual method, but also renders possible an ontology of Mono at the very core of their practice and philosophy.
KEYWORDS

Mono, Mono-ha, Lee Ufan, Kishio Suga, Nobuo Sekine, Phenomenology, Maurice Merleau-Ponty
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