Tao-Ship, 1997

Conceptual multidisciplinary performance-installation. Paper, bamboo, string, adhesive, ink, tempera, xerox, photograph – 3000 × 6000 × 6000 mm
Epreskert, Kálvária Hall, Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary

Tao-Ship is one of the key works from the artist’s Hermetic Cycle (1996–1998), presenting a unique synthesis of sacred iconography, psychedelic experience, and performative, site-specific installation practices. Philosophically and spiritually inspired, the work is media-conscious and conceptually multilayered.
The site-specific installation was created for a 6×6 metre, 3-metre high space in the Kálvária Hall of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. Its central element – a large, wing-clipped paper kite – becomes imbued with symbolic significance through the archetypes of both the ship and the dragon, evoking knowledge, energy, the mind, and transformation. Suspended and floating surfaces hang along the bamboo frame’s spine, structuring the space into a labyrinth – a walkable path interpreted as both physical journey and mental voyage.

These surfaces form a complex visual language: black-and-white calligraphy, automatic writings, brush gestures, sequences of letters and typographic symbols, grayscale xerox montages (based on portrait photographs of the artist by Martina Angerer), as well as painted paraphrases and large-scale graphic works. The painted images were partially derived from the manipulated photocopies and executed in monochrome using acrylic tempera on four painting boards. Noteworthy are four graphic works evoking organic female motifs – flower-like forms resembling female genitalia – and a geometrically stylised abstract figure shown in a yogic or fetal posture, which may also be interpreted as a cerebral structure.

The project offers a reflective, contemplative experience for the viewer. A key calligraphic inscription – “Knowledge cuts into reverie like an unexpected sharp blade” – articulates the central philosophical vector of the work: a meditation on the nature of knowledge, the taming of the mind (as dragon), and the path toward inner vision and self-awareness. The book as the body of knowledge, the letter as a cellular-level data carrier, and the flag as both trophy and memorial – all interweave into the symbolic strata of the visual composition.

Tao-Ship operates simultaneously as:
• A conceptual installation visualising a philosophical inquiry;
• A multimedia, photo-based sculptural environment where two-dimensional media become spatial composition;
• A performative work where the creative process (e.g. hand-manipulated xerox prints) is embedded within the meaning;
• An interactive spatial installation offering sensory and cognitive immersion;
• An interdisciplinary artwork in which photography, xerox manipulation, painting, calligraphy, conceptual thought, and installation art do not merely coexist, but merge into an organic whole.
Tao-Ship is a deeply personal and spiritual piece, constructed at the intersection of Eastern philosophy and Western conceptual thought. The work unfolds as a visual labyrinth – a site of seeing, remembering, self-knowledge, and transformation.