PROJECT : Calligraphy from East and West
PERSONAL
2021

As a person who grew up in the East and came to the West to learn design, I understand and recognize the cultural differences between the East and the West in a very abstract way, and it is very interesting to find the points where the difference is significant. Calligraphy is one such example, and a story I heard from a Chinese calligrapher became a hint for this project. Chinese calligraphy is an art of time and art of three dimensions. The reason why it’s called an art of time is because the viewers can feel a sense of speed in the stroke, and in the process of replaying the movement of the stroke, it moves along the body.

Calligraphy as a three-dimensional art is the reason that calligraphy continues as the brush draws a line on a paper, falls off the paper, and then placed back on the paper. So, when you look at a calligraphy work, you need to look at the totality of the work – from the part written on the paper to the areas where the tip of the brush passed over. Western calligraphy is very delicate and sophisticated. Therefore, I feel that Western calligraphy is rather very rational. They draw the most beautiful curves with minimal movement. In this project, the essential difference between Eastern and Western calligraphy was graphically substituted.