Tempted Mind

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心动，风动，浪动，树也动。

The Tempted Mind series was launched in 2003. In the 15 years that followed, the “wave” frequently appeared in the project in various creative nodes and developed multiple forms in response to the various display locations and different materials involved. Inspired by the famous Zen allusion, the Sixth Patriarch, Huineng’s quote from Tempted Mind, the sculptors have attempted to further reinterpret this allusion through a series of works. 

The story began with two monks debating over a flag that was flapping in the wind. One said it was the flag that was moving, while the other argued that it was the wind’s movement that caused the flag to move. However, the Six Patriarch, Huineng’s, response was that it was the mind that was moving, not the wind or the flag. 

In the material world of 2003, “waves” had no physical forms. They were formed when energy passed through water over a succession of moments or when the wind blew across its surface for a course of time. Through the form of the idea of waves, the artist’s intention was to concretize an abstract concept through sculpture, then direct the attention of that discourse back to the material world, a world of sculpture. 

The creation of the physical form of the wave was the artist’s attempted answer to the same question. 

In the Tempted Mind series, we see a constant commitment to the Modernist notion of “truth in material” and “purity of form.” On the other hand, the contemporary emphasis on site specificity is also important for the artist, as his sculptures are often built to engage viewers on an experiential or phenomenological level. 

In 2017, Vietnam Hanoi’s Tempted Mind was a set of five long, undulating, and highly polished mirror-surfaced stainless steel “waves” forged and welded together. The sculptures were then installed between the planted pine trees, gradually extending to the open field. The vertical trees form the corresponding lines of the sculptures. Each site-specific installation adapts phenomenally to a certain on-site/in-situ aura. In contrast to the floating silicone rubber cast version (2003) and the wooden carved version in the park/river (2008/2013), the mirror-finished stainless-steel signifies the cast images of the surrounding environment (2017), like running water flowing down the slope. It seems unstoppable and appears to be moving, a pure sensation beyond the stillness of the presented formation. 

The presence of absence; Tempted Mind.