Rock Gardens and Flesh Gardens
An indignant objection to Gelitin’s installation, “Klunk Garden” provides a welcome opportunity to expand on the brief discussion of this work in TO LIFE!. The objector, who identifies himself as a Buddhist practitioner, took offense to this work despie that fact that it faithfully recreates a classic rock garden's simplicity, tranquility, precision, and order.
The objectionable component was not aesthetic; it was material. The gentleman was offended by the inclusion of the artists' bodies that substituted for the rocks that are traditionally found in Buddhist rock gardens.
“Klunk Garden” is best understood work within the framework of the Buddhist principles he has adopted. Besides enabling him to enjoy the artists’ little spoof, just as the visitors did in Tokyo (where Japanese rock gardens evolved), it allows visitors to examine their mastery of the following principles that are fundamental to Buddhist practice:
‘Detachment’
Detachment in Buddhism’s practitioners strive to achieve happiness (reduce suffering) by freeing themselves from attachments to objects, or persons, or thoughts. Because such attachments prevent us from being free, mental transcendence cannot be achieved until we purge ourselves of such predispositions.
Feeling offended by “Klunk Garden” reveals the lingering presence of attachment to personal prejudices that prevent a person from relinquishing cultural discomfort regarding the naked human body. A detached Buddhist might realize that there is nothing inherently noble about an inert stone or ignoble about a live human body.
Furthermore, the rocks in a Buddhist rock garden provide the means to focus consciousness. A shoulder or buttock can serve this function just as well. Rocks in Buddhist gardens are not any more or less sacred than any other entity on the planet. They are not worshipped; they facilitate meditation. Meditating upon this work, instead of judging it, might serve as the release from negative habits of thought.
‘Mindfulness’
Mindful persons display a calm awareness of their bodily functions, sensations, emotions, thoughts, perceptions, and consciousness. They are attentive to the present rather than making judgments based upon biases and expectations and preferences. The principle involves accepting everything as-it-is, purged of mental filters and psychological barriers
Furthermore, the traditional versions of Japanese rock gardens are composed of natural elements such as stone, plant , wood and sand, and human-made elements such as bridges, pathways and lanterns. The artists’ additions of their own bodies is not alien to this tradition. Bodies are ‘natural’ and ‘human’.
Finally, and significantly, the Buddha’s body provides the organizing scheme for many renowned Buddhist temples.The entrance gate represents the groin area, the Buddha Hall the heart, and the Dharma Hall the head. The bathhouse symbolizes the right leg, and the latrine, the left leg. The right arm is the kitchen, and the left arm the Monk’s Hall. To enter the temple complex is therefore to enter the body of the Buddha.
In all these regards, “Klunk Garden” is a gentle spoof, but it also serves as a serious opportunity for each of us to meditate upon the mental baggage that obstructs our personal journeys toward enlightenment. It is apparent that the artists, present and unmoving throughout the hours the gallery was open, submitted to daily, prolonged, meditative explorations.