Use of the Useless

Date1999

Maker Son Man-jin Korean, born 1964

Label TextSon Man-jin, an acclaimed artist in Korea, brings a contemporary perspective into traditional art forms. He often transforms Chinese characters into abstract shapes, to the extent that the characters are no longer distinct. In this work, Son Man-jin wrote the two characters ("the useless") in dark ink in the right half, and saturated the left half with ink wash in varying shades, then used the unpainted area to delineate another two characters ("use of"). Read from the right to left, the calligraphy references a quotation from the Daoist classic Zhuangzi (ca. 300 B.C.): "All men know the use of the useful, but nobody knows the use of the useless.

Object number2011.22

ProvenanceThe artist; to Frank S. Bayley III, San Francisco, CA, 1999; gift from Frank Bayley to Seattle Art Museum, 2011

Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington. Asian Art Museum, Calligraphic Abstraction, May 9, 2015 - October 4, 2015. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, February 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view February 8, 2020 - July 11, 2021]. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Meot: Korean Art from the Frank Bayley Collection, August 28, 2024 - March 9, 2025.

Credit LineGift of Frank S. Bayley III

Dimensions31 1/2 x 110 1/4 in. (80 x 280 cm)

MediumInk on cloth