2010 sounds quite sci-fi, can't believe we have already arrived. My question is, has computer taken away our ability of hand writing? I heard that people are already using Dragon - a voice recognition software to write fiction. And even in texting, we use only two thumbs. In the year of 2010, it seems absurd to think about manuscript, let alone calligraphy.
The irony is, I do come across calligraphy every so often, not in its purest form, but incorporated into art and design. In last week's New York Times Magazine, there was an article called Cyberposse, which talked about China's human-flesh search engines acting as a form of online vigilante justice. The article itself is interesting, so is the art illustrating it. It was created by Leo Jung, who used some form of calligraphy approach. Unreadable, yet resembling the form of a hand-written petition to the Emperor, it is a strange mix of ideograms, hiragana and even, Kith-Haring-sort-of iconic figurines.
Another artist, Harvey Chan fuses calligraphy with anime to produce a series of mystical but alluring imageries. Titled Worganic, the series, which is issued as GOOD Edition, comprises of six images, with one Chinese character embedded in each: Anxiety, Exit, Compliance, Feeling, Spirit and Thoughts. Here, calligraphy has become subordinate playing a hide-and-seek game. Truly, in Chinese calligraphy, certain scripts (especially the running script) can dance, float, or fly ferociously across the paper. But it is only in black and white. Here, blessed with a different kind of aesthetic, the ever-evolving and imaginative worganic forms burst forth with colour and energy unseen in traditional calligraphy before.
