A Study on Expression of Taoism Water Thoughts in Installation Art

Abstract

Water, the origin of life, is one of the five elements that Chinese ancient philosophers applied to clarify the formation and correlations of all things in the world. Taoism attaches great importance to life and wellness, thus, as a symbol of life, "water" has always been respected in Taoism. The founder of Taoism, Lao Tsu, claimed that the most sublime deeds are just like what water does. Therefore, water resembles the spirit of Taoism. According to this, this article chooses water as the way the author viewing the world. For human civilization, water is closely related to life. From one perspective, the reliance and worship of water could be observed from the rituals of praying and offering sacrifices to Gods or ancestors. From another perspective, Taoism uses water to purify body and mind, release souls from purgatory and symbolize holy space and time. Furthermore, the concept of "harmony between man and nature" in Tao Te Ching (《道德經》), written by Lao Tsu, focuses on the protection and utilization of water resources. This concept has become the inspiration of many artists in recent years and an issue that we cannot avoid in environmental protection, The diverse functions fully demonstrate the characteristics of Taoism. This paper reveals the unique valve of "water" in Taoism from the life meaning, the representation of time and space, the regenerative capacity, the nature of circulation, and the awareness of ecological protection of water resources. This paper further analyzes the artistic and social value of "water" in Taoism. At the same time, the author hopes to arouse people"s awareness of water resources" protection.
 This article attempts to analyze the artistic and social expression of Taoist "water" in western installation arts. Water has long been worshiped and esteemed in Taoism, the aboriginal ancient Chinese religion and belief system, which advocates a harmonious mind and balanced life. Central to the Taoist philosophy are concept of Tao, Wuwei, Ziran and Yin and Yang. Taoist water has diverse symbolic and practical functions: it is vital to life and wellness, as it can treat illness, be applied to rituals, and believed to lead to eternal life. Water is also an element of purification of both body and mind. Also, it represent time and space in a unique way. Water is a metaphor for the coexistence between man and nature. We choose 5 representative works, i.e. Random International's Rain Room, Leandro Erlich's Swimming Pool, Jason deCaires Taylor's The Silent Evolution, Marina Bay Sands'Rain Oculus, LA & FreelandBuck's Rain Oculus, to interpret how one or more above functions are demonstrated in them. We can see that Taoist water thoughts are still vigorous and inspiring in today's artistic and social issues, with its rich life connotations, the representation of time and space, the regenerative capacity, the nature of circulation, and the awareness of ecological protection of water resources.