“Calligraphic Ink Painting”, “Realistic or Abstract Ink Painting”, and “Deconstructionist Ink Art” – Creation Description by Tseng Ting-Yu

[[abstract]]This paper begins with an attempt at clarifying the chronological developments of ink painting. It all started when the popularly known poet and important painter of Tang Dynasty, Wang Wei, brought in the innovative techniques such as xuandan(water-and-ink rendering) and pomo(breaking the ink), a fully comprehensive literati painting value system which aims to echo the concept of “reaching perfect harmony between mankind and the great nature” has thus been constructed. With time going, when solid ships and effective guns broke through Chinese “conservative barriers”, scholars of the time cried for restoration and reform, which has also stimulated ink painting to thrive on stress. Having been greatly influenced by the rationality of the Enlightenment, the formality and progressivism of the Modernism, there have been fruitful outcomes in terms of performance and graphical structure of ink painting. Although modernization did introduce convenience to millions worldwide, there are also demerits. Post-modernism provides an opportunity to give rationality and progressivism a second thought. There is not much passion about restoration and reform found in younger generation; as a matter of fact, they are more interested in murmuring their own interpretations of the world. Hence, this paper divides ink art conceptual development into three phases: “calligraphic ink painting”, “realistic or abstract ink painting”, and “deconstructionist ink art”. “Shift in aesthetic appreciation”, “changes in performance”, and “synthesis of graphical structure” are used as three dimensions to distinguish the differences and similarities of the phases mentioned. Every culture evolves, from the surface to the core, whenever it meets the ‘foreign’ counterparts. This explains perfectly why the development of ink painting started with the shift in performance, following by changes in graphical structure, and finally, the shift in aesthetic appreciation. This paper concludes with a discussion on current environment. So-called “post-industrialized society” or “information age” has altered the world. How we adapt to the changes and trend is the pivotal study for creative researchers. Keywords: ink painting, calligraphic ink painting, realistic or abstract ink painting, deconstructionist ink art