Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Korean Buddhist Prayer Container Analysis Part 10. So we have seen from the earlier analysis how an artist can use various elements to convey the idea that what is inside the container is special. (It is also possble that the proportions of the piece are meant to convey something to those who recognize them.) By conveying the meaning of specialness to the contents, the meaning of the contents can be seen to change. The elements of the container provide meta-data on the contents. The contents, in this case prayer text, may be dismissed by someone who is not able to read and understand them. However, situated inside the container, they become more special to those who can not read nor understand them. Now what of the item(s) which is inside? I have not studied Buddhism, nor its practices, enough to hazard a guess. So for myself, I can only fall back on some general understanding of Buddhism and what could be written on prayer text. That leaves the piece with a more general meaming for me than, say, someone who knows the specific text(s) that may be within. However, realizing this, I can understand that there may be some specificity to the piece which I do not know. I do know, that anything inside that container is probably quite special to someone...and that is a start. 9:39:36 PM