Phase of Nothingness–Cloth and Stone 1994

Nobuo Sekine made this artwork titled Phase of Nothingness–Cloth and Stone, and wow, it’s kind of strange, right? It's an artwork that feels more like an action or performance than a traditional sculpture. The cloth here is pulled tight, like it’s been stretched to its absolute limit, all these radial folds suggesting a kind of intense force at play. And then you see the stone, hanging there, like a plumb bob. The tension is palpable. It’s like a silent scream, or a breath held for too long. The whiteness of the cloth is also really interesting, it has this austere, almost spiritual quality. It's not just white; it's like a field of infinite potential, a blank page. I think Sekine's work shares a similar sensibility to Arte Povera artists like Jannis Kounellis or Mario Merz, who were also interested in using humble materials to explore big philosophical questions. It's not about answers, but about embracing ambiguity and acknowledging that some things simply cannot be put into words.