Confronted by the helplessness and existential void of a cyclical life, "Pencil Walker" attempts to transcend the "Pen Walking" series, evolving into a personal ritual of repentance. The practitioner erects a white wooden wall and positions a video camera facing it. A pencil sharpener is affixed to his left upper arm with tape, a recording device to his right, and a microphone connected to the recorder is sealed over his mouth. He activates the video and audio recorders, sharpens a pencil with the sharpener on his arm, and then walks back and forth before the white wall, continuously drawing lines with the pencil. Simultaneously, the practitioner begins by chanting a verse of repentance from the "Avataṃsaka Sūtra" states: "All the evil karma ever created by me / Is caused by beginningless greed, hatred, and delusion / Manifested through my body, speech, and mind / I now repent all of them." As he "pen-walking," he continuously recites mantras, the "Heart Sūtra," or the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This cycle of sharpening, drawing lines, and chanting is repeated continuously; each session lasts approximately two hours and fifteen minutes, performed sixty times over twenty years.
The "Pen Walking" series and "Pencil Walker" are imbued with several layers of metaphor: each pencil represents a cycle of reincarnation. The wall and paper—originally pristine and white, now darkened and soiled—symbolize the accumulated negative karma across countless past lives. "Pen Walking" silently surveys the totality of a lifetime's endeavors, prompting one to sigh: "No matter what, it is but thus." "Pencil Walker," however, seeks to meditate before the accumulated negative karma of countless lives, posing the question: "If one pencil can represent a single human life, then what kind of life lines do I repeatedly trace in the long cycle of birth and death? Is it not the ceaseless progression of birth, aging, illness, and death? Do these hardships hold any meaning? Must I continue in this manner?"
Confronting such a life, you have not truly seen through it. You both crave and despise it; you harbor a certain self-loathing. And so, you fall silent... and your silence, is the pencil.
(originally published in the artist's monograph, 2013)
面對輪迴人生的無奈與虛無，《走鉛筆的人》試圖超越「走筆」系列，這是一個個人的懺悔儀式。行者架設一面木板白牆，面對白牆安置一組錄影機，分別用膠帶將削鉛筆機和錄音機固定在他的左上臂和右上臂，又將錄音機接出的收音麥克風封貼在嘴上。啟動錄影機、錄音機，並用臂上的削鉛筆機削尖鉛筆，在白牆前往返行走並持續地走畫鉛筆線。與此同時，行者以誦念華嚴懺悔偈：「往昔所造諸惡業，皆由無始貪嗔癡，從身語意之所生，一切我今皆懺悔。」 作為開始，邊走筆邊持咒語、心經，或誦念諸佛菩薩的名號。這個削鉛筆、走線和誦念的行動不斷重覆進行著，每次為時約二小時十五分，共執行六十次歷時二十年。
「走筆」系列與《走鉛筆的人》蘊含著一些隱喻：一枝枝的筆，代表一生生的輪迴。那面本來清靜潔白，如今黝黑污濁的紙與牆，則象徵過去生生世世累積的惡業。「走筆」沈默地全覽一生的作業，使人喟嘆：「不論再怎麼樣，也不過如此」，而《走鉛筆的人》則試圖在累生造作的惡業前冥想：「如果一枝筆，可以是一個人的一生。那麼在漫長的生死輪迴中，我重複走出的是什麼樣的人生線條？不就是不斷的生、老、病、死嗎？這些辛苦有意義嗎？還要這樣繼續下去嗎？」
面對這樣的人生，其實你並未看透。你既渴念也厭棄，你有些痛恨自己。於是，你沈默⋯，而你的沈默，就是筆。
（原載於2013年作品集）
The "Pen Walking" series and "Pencil Walker" are imbued with several layers of metaphor: each pencil represents a cycle of reincarnation. The wall and paper—originally pristine and white, now darkened and soiled—symbolize the accumulated negative karma across countless past lives. "Pen Walking" silently surveys the totality of a lifetime's endeavors, prompting one to sigh: "No matter what, it is but thus." "Pencil Walker," however, seeks to meditate before the accumulated negative karma of countless lives, posing the question: "If one pencil can represent a single human life, then what kind of life lines do I repeatedly trace in the long cycle of birth and death? Is it not the ceaseless progression of birth, aging, illness, and death? Do these hardships hold any meaning? Must I continue in this manner?"
Confronting such a life, you have not truly seen through it. You both crave and despise it; you harbor a certain self-loathing. And so, you fall silent... and your silence, is the pencil.
(originally published in the artist's monograph, 2013)
面對輪迴人生的無奈與虛無，《走鉛筆的人》試圖超越「走筆」系列，這是一個個人的懺悔儀式。行者架設一面木板白牆，面對白牆安置一組錄影機，分別用膠帶將削鉛筆機和錄音機固定在他的左上臂和右上臂，又將錄音機接出的收音麥克風封貼在嘴上。啟動錄影機、錄音機，並用臂上的削鉛筆機削尖鉛筆，在白牆前往返行走並持續地走畫鉛筆線。與此同時，行者以誦念華嚴懺悔偈：「往昔所造諸惡業，皆由無始貪嗔癡，從身語意之所生，一切我今皆懺悔。」 作為開始，邊走筆邊持咒語、心經，或誦念諸佛菩薩的名號。這個削鉛筆、走線和誦念的行動不斷重覆進行著，每次為時約二小時十五分，共執行六十次歷時二十年。
「走筆」系列與《走鉛筆的人》蘊含著一些隱喻：一枝枝的筆，代表一生生的輪迴。那面本來清靜潔白，如今黝黑污濁的紙與牆，則象徵過去生生世世累積的惡業。「走筆」沈默地全覽一生的作業，使人喟嘆：「不論再怎麼樣，也不過如此」，而《走鉛筆的人》則試圖在累生造作的惡業前冥想：「如果一枝筆，可以是一個人的一生。那麼在漫長的生死輪迴中，我重複走出的是什麼樣的人生線條？不就是不斷的生、老、病、死嗎？這些辛苦有意義嗎？還要這樣繼續下去嗎？」
面對這樣的人生，其實你並未看透。你既渴念也厭棄，你有些痛恨自己。於是，你沈默⋯，而你的沈默，就是筆。
（原載於2013年作品集）
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Pencil Walker, 1996–2015
