Art: The Transcendence of Calligraphy

Not too long ago I had the chance to go to an exhibition by Korean calligraphist Jung Do Jun whose art I found to be of the utmost quality. I took the time to wonder pensively into each of his pieces of art but I could never have guessed what most of them meant. At the same time every single one of them expressed something so clear that no knowledge of Korean was necessary to understand. Reading the translations gave the paintings a completely different meaning as well as a different way of looking at them. One does not see the brush strokes any more, one sees words and meaning, often a very beautiful and powerful meaning. Yet it is the first impression that lingered and gave me such a feeling of understanding. The words had transcended their own meaning.
Every major style of writing and language has its unique form of calligraphy. I shouldn't say that, because in fact each artist has a unique calligraphy within his or her language. Of course there are different "schools", each with their own guide lines, standards and backgrounds but I believe no two calligraphist write the same.
Writing is one of the most important aspects of our modes of communication and one that sets us apart from other species. Yes, writing is above all a means of communication, so what is the point of looking at writing you do not understand? Even if we see the calligraphy merely as an image is there that much to see?

I believe so. First of all the image formed by the letters or characters can be truly beautiful and expressive to the point of making the sense of the word obvious. That is especially true of writing that allow a large degree of freedom in strokes of a brush or pen such as Arabic and Asian calligraphy. Furthermore the general shape can also inspire the reader such as in shape poetry. But even if the composition seems completely abstract there is still a difference between calligraphy and a painting which make them similar at the same time.
This implies getting to the root of words, to the reason why word can transcend their meaning. As I said above words are a powerful means of communication and thus when we see one we usually try to understand what it means. The likes of Champollion have spent decades trying to understand and decipher each others language. In a more recent and popular example the protagonist's life in the movie, "Citizen Dog" revolves completely around a book she does not understand. Words can become this massive black hole that sucks us in because he are searching for something that does not exist. The representation of the words do not have intrinsic meaning, we need the key to using them. When I look at calligraphy I forget about the meaning assigned to the words, and I try to become one with the words, strip away the layers of sense we paint on them, make the strokes disappear, focus on the harmony, the directions and the fascination. Words can bring such a different experience, a universal experience, through their mystery and their place in our human society that paintings do not have. Painting do share the universality and the mystery surrounding them. We often search a meaning in gazing at a picture but the approach,I believe will be fundamentally different.