Mandala: Zone of Zero

Date2003

Maker Kimsooja Korean, born 1957

Label TextThe jukeboxes emit three different religious chants: Tibetan Buddhist, Gregorian, and Islamic. Although kitschy and commercial, here they paradoxically stand in for mandalas, diagrammatic images of religious cosmos. As the title suggests, different beliefs merge and eventually reach the “zone of zero.” This call for embracing religious diversity feels more relevant and needed than ever.

Object number2020.13

ProvenanceThe artist; [The Project, New York]; purchased from gallery by Bill and Ruth True, Seattle, Washington, 2004; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2020

Photo CreditPhoto: Jueqian Fang

Exhibition HistoryNew York, The Project, Kimsooja, Mandala: Zone of Zero, 2003. Seattle, Washington, Western Bridge, WOW/The Work of the Work, 2004-2005. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Be/Longing: Contemporary Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 – ongoing.

Credit LineGift of William and Ruth True in honor of Chiyo Ishikawa and the reopening of the Seattle Asian Art Museum

DimensionsAudio duration: 9 min., 50 sec.

MediumThree-channel sound installation with three jukeboxes, 9 min., 50 sec.