Jonathon Ruppel and Alan Stuart
Design 189/ Winter 2001
Professor Niranjan Rajah
Design|Media Arts UCLA

Background

Zen began as a school of the teachings of Buddhism in China and later in Japan. Studying almost exclusively the importance, acceptance, and method of dhyana.

Dhyana is the Sanskrit word describing the state of consciousness during meditation. However, this does not require that the person be in a static or passive state as modern followers have translated it to mean. This state of dhyana can be reached and maintained throughout one's day and even through sleep. The essential principle contained within eliminates the idea of the 'individual' and allows one to focus on the universe as a single entity.

Individual persons and object only exist in relation to each other;Buddhists label this relativity as their 'voidness.(1)' Zen cannot be taught or learned, but is an innate ability to achieve what is called wu-hsin (no-mind). Deriving from teachings of both the Japenese Mayahama and the Chinese Taoism, Zen promotes the philosophy that the world and any object in it "just is." There should be no labels, nor judgments; An object is merely a certain alignment of matter made up of one constant. "What is the way [of Zen]?" Zen master Yao-shan responds, "A cloud in the sky and water in the jug!(2)"

The artwork emerging from such schools of thought were unlike anything this world had seen before. Covering from painting to architecture, Zen art's range was as broad as any other's teachings, but its style and subject matter seemed to go in the opposite direction of Western Art. Europe was at the height of the Romanesque period, strengthening ideas of the church, and state, by adorning individuals. Since art began in prehistoric times it has been used not only for aesthetic purposes, but also for propaganda. Zen art, however, shuns this use and promotes serenity, discipline, and simplicity.

The Rock Garden

The Zen Rock Garden is one of the best examples of the teachings for which they hold sacred. The garden itself contains minimal variation of color and composition. The basic materials include pebbles or gravel in an allocated parameter, a few large rocks, and perhaps some plants. The entire purpose is to represent our universe or, as it were, the Buddhist universe. This conceptual cosmos' center being Mount Sumeru was usually represented by a hillock and/ or large rock.(3)Then three to nine fairly large rocks were naturally selected to symbolize the Spirits of Zen; the shapes and postures chosen were presumed to have a relationship with the character and history of the persons represented. It was regarded as unfavorable if three stones, the Guardian Stone, the Stone of Adoration, and the Stone of the Two Deities (a.k.a. Stone of Completeness), were not present. Stones are prized for two reasons: their associations with the past and their appearance of great age.(4) Gravels were used in dry-landscapes to symbolize the flatness and calmness of water, often the lake Munetsunochi. After the stones were collected and a simple rake for the gravel was acquired, the long, disciplined process of creation began, but only a few benefited from it. Because the garden is created not for the audience and rather for the artist himself, only those whom have achieved a high level of spiritual Zen through years of strict discipline can learn the importance of this art.

The New Approach

We, as designers not as Zen masters, have therefore have attempted to recreate principles, laws, and knowledge of the Zen Rock Garden in an easily accessible and usable medium. The Internet, if we ignore its prevalent flaws, serves as the best resource for all to benefit from the teachings of Zen. Spawned from an idea of Michel Foucault, comment on the computer described it as "a technology of self which permits individuals to affect on their own bodies and souls, thoughts, conducts and ways of Being, so as to transform themselves in order to attain a certain state of happiness, purity, wisdom, perfection, or immortality.(5)" Even though Zen is not a religion itself, it is a branch of teachings originating in the Buddhist belief. Any product of this, therefore, can be considered sacred: in this case, Sacred Art. "Sacred art is a technology or 'calculus' with which to transcribe universal truths(6) ." This statement closely follows the thought process behind the invention of the rock garden over one thousand years ago. The 'calculus' lies in the precision of the elements within (line, color, shape, balance). As aforementioned, the entire landscape becomes the universe and the 'truths' are only revealed at the completion.

One cannot plan a rock garden, it must be felt and understood. The conclusion often uncovers patterns and 'interactions' between elements within, describing the symbolical nature of the world.(7)" Zen rejects the idea of individuality, teaching that all is one and one is all. Moreover, the rocks and other elements involved in the artwork are insignificant. The only importance lies in their symbolism allowing the creator to design his own "imaginative energy(8)."

Removing all limiting factors of the Rock Garden (such as expense, land, and time), we have created a space where one can go to experience the value of such an art with the click of a mouse. Beginning with a simple representation of an actual rock garden, our environment allows the creator to grow accustomed to placement and interaction of the elements. We then offer more abstract representations pushing the 'artistic' envelope and hopefully evoking catalysts for thought, but continue to use only simple repeating elements.Repeating the metophor in both macrocosmic and microcosmic scale the possibilities are beginning to present themselves. We hope that our adaptation has allowed the public to gain knowledge that would have ordinarily been restricted to only a few.

Links to areas of interest

http://www.zengarden.co.za/
http://www.am-wood.com/dec97/zen.html
http://www.japanesegifts.com/zencreate.htm
http://www.tacoteq.com/gs/zen.htm
http://www.mbzc.org/news/kigen_w97.htm
http://surprise.editthispage.com/zengarden http://www.thegoodnamesweretaken.com/CatBoxZen/default.htm http://www.multimania.com/piiic/ZEN/zengarden.html http://members.tripod.com/~zengarden/
http://members.tripod.com/~zengarden/gardens.htm
http://www.hp-net.com/hpn/zenrock.html
http://www.zen-g.co.uk/zeng_prod.htm

A Note on ActionScripting

These gardens were all constructed in Flash5 primarily because of dynamic abitities of ActionScripting and the small web size of the swf file. Basiclly, repition of elements manipulated by repulsion fields and inverse dynamics are the driving forces of these examples.For further reading on ActionScripting, visit....
www.presstube.com
www.praystation.com
www.flashkit.com
www.yugop.com

References

1.Zen. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000.

2 Zen. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000.

3 Hayakawa, Masao. The Garden Art of Japan. Weatherhill/ Heibonsha. New York, 1984. p16.

4 Itoh, Teiji. The Gardens of Japan. Kodansha International. Tokyo, 1984. p174.

5 De Mul, Jos. Networked Identities. Keynote address to the "Seventh International Symposium On Electronic Art." 1996. p13.

6 Rajah, Niranjan/ Srinivasan, Raman. Sacred Art in a Digital Era. p.4

7 Burckhard, Titus. Sacred Art in East and West. Perennial Books LTD. Middlesex, 1967.

8 Coomaraswamy, A. History of Indian and Indonesian Art. Dover Publications Inc. New York, 1965. p.26