11-WU Meng-Shan-Leibniz’s Calculating Machine March
- Transcript
- Wu Meng-Shan is a contemporary Taiwanese artist focused on ink-based practice. The featured piece is part of her Figurism in the Book of Changes series, which reflects her sustained engagement with the I Ching (Book of Changes) as a source for calligraphic creation. In this series, she merges the visual elements of dots, lines, and planes to express the philosophical structure of the text through calligraphy.
Wu transforms the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching into binary code using the digits 0 and 1, referencing 17th-century German philosopher and scientist Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who saw binary as a universal symbolic system. This conceptual gesture initiates a cross-cultural dialogue between Eastern metaphysics and Western rational systems.
Her rendering of 0s and 1s varies in tone and texture—ranging from dark, saturated ink to dry, faint strokes—creating a visual rhythm that blurs the line between calligraphy and symbolic image. By simultaneously converting writing into symbol and symbol into writing, Wu exemplifies an experimental spirit that bridges calligraphy and contemporary conceptual art.
2022
Ink on paper
250.7 × 117 cm
Private collection
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