word game played by a small circle of people, and the art itself is less and less able to stand on its own. Although conceptual art opposes mainstream values, it has itself become absolutely mainstream. As I observed this situation, my doubts grew stronger and stronger. I am not opposed to conceptual art, but art is not simply progressive logic that must be expressed in a particular language, and mediums need not be divided into “advanced” and “backward.” So I attempt to use so-called “outmoded” languages to make art in response to “contemporary” issues.
A: That does not necessarily mean that artists do not understand philosophy and good art cannot contain concepts. When I was in Rome, I went to see Raphael’s Transfiguration (Fig. 1). I really liked it, and I went back to see it several times. Later, a scholar of art history explained the rich content of the painting to me. Raphael expressed the theological concerns of the era in the painting. At the time, scholars were debating the ideas of Neo-Platonism. These artists were not merely relying on aesthetics or intelligence; they had knowledge, and they associated with philosophers, scientists, and writers. But art goes beyond concepts. The Transfiguration is an example of this. You can never finish looking at this painting; it never gets old. Knowledge can increase the charm of an artwork, but it absolutely cannot replace the artwork. Raphael’s painting is not a little conceptual world created by a clever artist, and nor are your artworks.
So what I would like to know is this: what does your universe contain, and how do you move within it?
X: From the perspective of an education background, I find that the current young generation is more inclined to interact with the world using their bodies. Everything is achieved within the experience of the present. My generation spent their early years building a knowledge base. Books are an important source of nourishment, and they embody classical value systems. The era I grew up in was not a theistic era, but the books that I read represented a theistic world, and those notions influenced me to a degree. Knowledge is part of the foundation for the construction of the self. The universe you speak of is like something that