Form is Emptiness

Hiroshi Sugimoto: Form Is Emptiness

The exhibition title draws from a well-known line in the Heart Sutra, a foundational Buddhist text. The phrase “form is emptiness” articulates a profound yet direct insight: nothing exists independently, and we perceive the world in a certain way because of the definitions we have created for ourselves. The tension between appearance and reality has long been central to Sugimoto’s practice.

At the intersection of Buddhist philosophy and scientific inquiry, Sugimoto approaches time not as a fixed measure, but as something open and malleable. He invites viewers to slow down and reconsider the act of seeing itself, which is not passive reception, but an intentional and reflective gesture.

Designed by Sugimoto, the exhibition layout takes the form of a mandala—a circular, geometric figure representing the universe in Hindu and Buddhist symbolism. Rather than a single linear route, paths branch, loop and reconnect, inviting more than one direction of movement.

Visitors are invited to move through the exhibition at their own pace and in their own sequence. In doing so, the spatial experience echoes Sugimoto’s enduring concern: how form and emptiness exist in interdependence, and how understanding gradually emerges through experience rather than relying on predetermined interpretation.

For more details, please visit: https://www.singaporeartmuseum.sg/Art-Events/Exhibitions/Hiroshi-Sugimoto