black scribble-like form with embossing

%C2%A9 Maki Haku

Ren - 4, 1960s

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Here Maki created a mass of random, tangled strokes that cannot be decoded. Yet they evoke cursive writing in Japanese and Chinese, tempting viewers to try to read them. To those unfamiliar, Chinese characters are logograms—characters or “pictures” that represent a word. While these characters might seem to possess an infinite number of possible stroke combinations, in practice there are only eight types of basic strokes that are used. Maki’s invented cursive makes use of these strokes, which makes the whole appear writing-like, but each character has too few or too many strokes, which renders it illegible.

Details
Title
Ren - 4
Artist Life
1924 - 2000
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2019.78.197
Catalogue Raisonne
Haku Maki Catalogue Raisonné (unlisted)
Curator Approved

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black scribble-like form with embossing

© Maki Haku

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