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SIMO N MORLEY LOST HORIZON SIMO N MORLEY LOST HORIZON – ’ 21 EASTCASTLE STREET • LONDON W1W 8DD 020 7734 0386 • [email protected] WWW.ARTFIRST.CO.UK •[1] Lost Horizons • [Prelude ] To be governed •[2] Lost Horizons Nos .1– 4 •[3] Blue Moon Nos .1–5 •[4] Lost Horizon (1947) •[5] In these days . (1938) •[6] The door to the invisible •[7] Utopia •[8] I place in your hands •[9] Shangri-La •[10] Finding Shangri-La–video •[1 ] 1 Mirror, Mirror •[12] Blue Moon–video •[13] Future and destiny–video •[14] How to lose an horizon •[15] You’ve got Utopia–video •[16]To continu e the journey •[17] Biography To be governe d. (Proudhon) , x , In way of an introduction, this is a work that sources an extreme expression of dissatisfaction with society as we find it –a list taken from the writings of the 19th century anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. e full text is: To be governed is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the public interest, to be placed under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonored. ‘Nobody owns anything but everyone is rich— for what greater wealth can there be than cheerfulness, peace of mind, and freedom from anxiety?’ omas More Utopia (1516) ‘e door to the invisible must be visible.’ René Daumal Mount Analogue (1952) ‘What this world needs is truth, not consolation. It must find itself in its ordeal and by way of its restlessness, not in the solace of edifying discourses that do nothing but pile on more testimony to its misery.’ Jean-Luc Nancy Hegel: e Restlessness Of e Negative (2002) ‘Eternal happiness is one of the basic desires of the human species.’ Venerable Song Chol Lost Horizons e dream of a perfect society certainly didn’t originate with omas More’s famous work of 1516. He just gave it another name: Utopia. It’s a dream that is probably as old a mankind itself and it has gone by many names. In one of my works for this exhibition I’ve listed 39, but there are certainly more. ey can be found in many different cultures, contexts and periods—expressed in forms as diverse as ancient myths, religions, political ideologies, fiction, Hollywood movies, and the virtual realities of cyberspace. In Chinese mythology we find Mount Penglai, a mystical land where it is said the Eight Immortals abide. Here there is no winter. ere is no suffering or pain. Rice bowls and wine glasses are never empty, and magical fruit grows with the ability to heal all diseases, grant eternal youth, and even raise the dead. King Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China, who reigned from 221 BC –210 BC , believed that such a magical island really existed in the East Sea, and sent expedi - tions to discover it. But of course they failed. Instead, the King was obliged to satisfy himself with the creation of a miniature version, built in his garden . is in its turn founded the tradition of the Chinese, and then the Kor eans and Japanese, creating gardens where there are bridges and streams, paths running through cultivated beds of exotic plants and flowers, even gazebos and pavilions for people to sit in and ponder the beauty of nature or the full moon, and to recollect for a while perfection in the mind. Countless versions of Mount Penglai were brought to life through the magic of pen and ink. Scholars, poets, artists created poems and pictures inviting people to escape from the chaos of the outside world and to temporarily inhabit a virtual space where they could enjoy beauty, peace and security. e vision of the perfect land became a favorite theme of East Asian art, and its iconography is usually signaled by depictions of dramatically breath-taking views of mountains and deep ravines swathed in milky mist and illuminated by the rising sun. Cranes — symbols of good fortune and longevity—perch on a pine tree, which is itself also a symbol of longevity—and are accompanied by two other symbols, the plum tree, representing youthful spirit, and the bamboo, symbol of hardiness, flexibility and strength. ◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉ Since moving to Korea, I’ve become fascinated by one particular exampl e— the painting Mongyu dowondo (A Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Paradise (or land)) , which was created in 1447 by the artist Ahn Gyeon (or An Gyeon). It is a handscroll in ink and light colour on silk, and is very long, measuring 438 x 106 cm. Handscroll painting is an intimate form of visual art that can be view ed by only a few people at a given time. Unrolled from right to le, so that about 50 cm is revealed at a time, the viewed section is then re-rolled before another section is unrolled. In contrast to a hanging scroll painting, the hand scroll usually tells a story that unfolds across time. e same character(s) may appear at multi - ple points over the extent of the painting, something like a car toon strip or ani - mated film. But Ahn Gyeon’s painting is unusual insofar as it unrolls from le to right, and there are no characters at all. One of the painting’s 23 colophons was composed and penned by Prince Anpyeong, who commissioned the work. In it he describes how he had a vivid dream in which he became the fisherman described in a famous poem by the Chinese poet Tao Quian (365–427 CE ) called A Peach Blossom Spring and soon aerwards asked Ahn Gyeon to paint the handscroll. Prince Anpyeong also describes what he saw in his dream: ‘e paradise is a land of mountains, range upon range formed by deep gorges, and the rocky peaks are loy and remote . Mountains on four sides stood like walls in thick clouds and mists. Peach trees in the near and far distance were reflected through hazy, rosy clouds.’ It is this peach grove, which we see in the right-hand section of the painting, that announces the location of the secret Utopian community. Tao Quian’s poem had been written during a time of great political turmoil for China. It begins with a fisherman following a stream and losing track of the distance he traveled. He encounters a peach blossom grove, and aer enjoying the fragrant air filled with blossoms, he looks for the end of the grove and finds a tight crevasse in a hillside and squeezes through, emerging on the other side to see a village, lush fields, ponds, mulberry and willow trees, and bamboo. e villagers accept the fisherman into their homes, and he speaks to them of the dynastic changes and continual warfare experienced by the people since the villagers became separated from the rest of China. Aer a stay of several days the fisherman departs with well wishes and the request from the villagers that he keep their paradise a secret. But the fisherman leaves markers along the way so that he can return, and soon leads an expedition to find it again. However, all attempts fail, and since that time no one has ever re-entered the ‘Peach Blossom Paradise.’ Ahn Gyeon’s masterpiece A Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Paradise is there - fore a painting of a dream of a poem. We don’t see the community itself— just three outlying and empty buildings at the edge of the grove at the middle and top right of the painting. So we can therefore only imagine what it’s like. e subsequent history of the royal commissioner and the painting itself are tell - ing: in 1453 Prince Anpyeong was sent into exile, and soon aerwards was sen - tenced to death for opposing the usurpation of the Joseon throne by his brother, Sejo. Ahn Gyeon’s painting was stolen by Japanese invaders during the 1592–98 Imjin War, and ever since has been kept in Japan. It’s current custodian, Tenri Uni versity, has refused to return the handscroll to Korea, and to date has permit - ted it to be exhibited twice in South Korea. In the meantime, Koreans must make do with a copy, which is all I’ve managed to see too. ◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉ Fast forward to Europe in the 1930s and Shangri-La. James Hilton’s best-selling novel, Lost Horizon (1932), written as the dark clouds of war gathered over the world, was made into a marvelous Frank Capra movie starring Ronald Cole man in 1938 (and into an execrable musical version in the 1970s). It brings a West- meets-East dimension to the ancient myth. e first shots of the movie are of a book. e pages turn to reveal this text: In these days of wars and rumors of wars—haven’t you ever dreamed of a place where there was peace and security, where living was not a struggle but a lasting delight? Of course you have. So has every man since Time began. Always the same dream. Sometime he calls it Utopia—Sometimes the Fount- ain of Youth—Sometimes merely ‘that little chicken farm’. e name of Hilton’s now famous kingdom derives from the Tibetan paradise Shambala—and Lost Horizon up-dates the dream of Mount Penglai and the Peach Blossom Paradise, locating it in a ‘real’ place—the Valley of the Blue Moon, hidden away high up in the Himalayas.

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