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form, or an original landscape, and just like that gazing upon all the landscapes of the world.

Then, just how on earth has the artist painted such ineffable, indeterminate, open-to-meaning, and mysterious landscapes? In
fact, instead of saying that Kim had painted them, they should be described to have occurred into paintings. Or should I say,
the paintings have done the painting? Kim calls this <an infinite world in a cup>. This is not a rhetorical expression, for the artist
created the shapes by pouring out paints from cups. The paintings were done through the fluidity of paint, with the help of media
mixed in to control the viscosity, for the paint does not glide on its own.

Recognized as the pouring or the fluid technique, the marbling technique (using the repulsive effect between water and oil), the
dripping technique, and Tachisme (the technique of spraying paint to make atypical smudges) in conventional paintings are all
from utilizing the flowing nature of paint. Probably should be called Kim’s variation of the pouring or the fluid technique, what’s
special about this is the impossibility of creating the two same paintings due to not knowing what shape would occur from the
uncontrollable flow of paint. And, this relates to the character of nature in creation, in the process of extinction, on the move, and
therefore, no repetition (thus, no reemergence).

And how Kim calls these paintings of his <the infinite world in a cup>; the artist feels pure joy while working on these paintings as
if God creating the universe. Indeed, artists are often compared to the Creator. Traditionally, art was considered a representation
or allegory of creating an unprecedented world. M. Heidegger (German philosopher, 1889-1976) called art the act of opening the
world and starting the world. Jean-François Lyotard (French philosopher, 1924-1998) called art an irreproducible one-time event.
Just like that, the paintings of Kim YeonSik summons the orthodox art and artist.

The world in a cup? The world comes from a cup? If the cup filled with paint symbolizes a dot that was the source of existence,
then the accidental shapes from the poured paint correspond to the generative principle derived from the dot. Thus, the cup
is analogized with the dot from which the world began; The world comes from a dot. The world originated from ideas (Plato’s
Theory of Mimesis). The world originated from “One” (Plotinus’ Substance Theory). The world was created from Logos; the Word of
God (Christianity’s monotheism and creationism). In Christianity, Logos is referred to as the Word of God, and in Buddhism, it is
called Dharma. So, instead of asking about the origin of the world, Buddhism asks about the return of the world. 萬法歸一 一歸何
處. Everything goes back to one, then where does that one return to? Here, the origin of existence and where it returns to are one
thing.

The artist’s paintings of ineffable, indeterminate, open-to-meaning, and mysterious landscapes ask about the origin of the world
and the restoration of an existence. Thus, the indescribable landscape, the non-deterministic landscape, the semantically open
landscape, and the mysterious landscape that the artist has painted ask for the origin of the world and the return of existence. Art
is the skill of questioning. And, Zen Buddhism is the art of discourse. Thus, the artist's paintings done by chance, the skill of the art,
and the discourse of Zen Buddhism become connected, and their asking for existence resummons the great discourse (questioning
where existence comes from and goes) in its absent era, bringing more meaning and resonance to Kim YeonSik’s masterpieces.
- Translated by EJ Park

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