‘The two formal elements in calligraphic
art are the black line and the white space. The black
of the line is Chinese ink, sumi, and the white space
the highly absorbent Chinese, English or Korean paper
on which the calligraphy is written. Out of these basic
elements, both formal and material, is created an art
of infinite depth and subtlety which has held the Eastern
imagination captive for centuries. It is probably its
very simplicity which is part of its charm. It is a simplicity
which has given birth to a plethora of expressive line.
There are as many lines as there are calligraphers who
write. The scripts have certain conventions that should
be followed, but the lines themselves are unique to the
person writing them. (…)
In this book I deliberately concentrate
on these two basic elements, the line and space, to grasp
the essence of the art as securely as possible. It means
that I do not examine the Chinese characters and hiragana
(the English phonetic script form) themselves. (…)
This minimalist approach is not
without foundation calligraphically. There is a highly
developed English vocabulary and phraseology referring
to line and space distinct from scriptural or stylistic
variation. I introduce many of these phrases. Secondly
the enjoyment of the cursive script is predominately visual
as the characters are often illegible. This is especially
so nowadays. Lastly an abstract calligraphy in which the
character is not necessarily used or, if it is, is indiscernible,
has developed successfully since the war. (…)
After the war (…) most calligraphic
movements began actively reassessing the art (of calligraphy)
and the emphasis moved from education to expression. Of
the various
new groups which sprung up it is from within the rather
small avant-garde movement that the clearest statements
about the art of calligraphy are to be found. Although
radical and somewhat controversial, the ideas expounded
have been pushed to their logical limits in the work itself.
This is seen in particular in the priority given to line
over form. As the fundamentals of the art are so clearly
outlined in their position, it is the one I use as the
base through the book. ’(…)
