BYR Quad Origin 03
2022 Oil on canvas 211.5 x 211.5cm (84.5x83.5inch)
Provenance
Artist Collection, 2026
Exhibitions
2024《Schematic Medium as Meta-Conceptualism》, A gallery, Seoul
About The Work
BYR Quad Origin (QUAD) Theory: Infinite Generation within the Finite Frame
The BYR Quad Origin (QUAD) series explores the structural principles of plastic language by reducing the three fundamental elements of the BYR System—Blue (Human), Yellow (Nature), and Red (Cosmos)—to their most minimized geometric units. QUAD, however, is not merely a fundamental abstract reduction; it is a plastic experiment visualizing the ‘Fourth Structural Dimension (Origin)’ that inevitably emerges from the interaction of these three elements. It represents the initial logical mechanism required for the entire BYR System to activate itself, serving as a fierce exploration into the mechanics of infinity generated within the finitude of human perception.
The BYR Quad Origin (QUAD) series explores the structural principles of plastic language by reducing the three fundamental elements of the BYR System—Blue (Human), Yellow (Nature), and Red (Cosmos)—to their most minimized geometric units. QUAD, however, is not merely a fundamental abstract reduction; it is a plastic experiment visualizing the ‘Fourth Structural Dimension (Origin)’ that inevitably emerges from the interaction of these three elements. It represents the initial logical mechanism required for the entire BYR System to activate itself, serving as a fierce exploration into the mechanics of infinity generated within the finitude of human perception.
I. The Genesis of Form: Conceptual Evolution Beyond Reductionism
My plastic language finds its starting point in the philosophy of Reductionism, yet its ultimate objective is fundamentally different.
Historical Reductionism
While Modernist reductionism, epitomized by artists like Piet Mondrian, sought to terminate the exploration of the world by condensing it into the immutable 'essence' of points, lines, and planes, my inquiry focuses on generating new structures from that very foundation.
Conceptual Evolution of BYR
I redefine the BYR Prime Elements not as fixed 'absolute archetypes,' but as a ‘minimum unit of Syntax’ where life and consciousness are structured. The iconographic signs—Blue (Square / Human), Yellow (Triangle / Nature), and Red (Circle / Cosmos)—are generative tools used to ask not "What is beautiful?" but "How does structure emerge?"
My plastic language finds its starting point in the philosophy of Reductionism, yet its ultimate objective is fundamentally different.
Historical Reductionism
While Modernist reductionism, epitomized by artists like Piet Mondrian, sought to terminate the exploration of the world by condensing it into the immutable 'essence' of points, lines, and planes, my inquiry focuses on generating new structures from that very foundation.
Conceptual Evolution of BYR
I redefine the BYR Prime Elements not as fixed 'absolute archetypes,' but as a ‘minimum unit of Syntax’ where life and consciousness are structured. The iconographic signs—Blue (Square / Human), Yellow (Triangle / Nature), and Red (Circle / Cosmos)—are generative tools used to ask not "What is beautiful?" but "How does structure emerge?"
The QUAD series is the ‘foundational cognitive system’ that first activates when the immanent elements of BYR begin to create new meaning and relations, functioning as the logical Ground Layer of the entire BYR worldview.
II. QUAD: The Geometric Fate of Finite Existence (The Human Frame)
The formal basis of QUAD, the square, is not merely an external shape but symbolizes the structural limitations of human perception. This is the Geometric Fate of human existence.
The formal basis of QUAD, the square, is not merely an external shape but symbolizes the structural limitations of human perception. This is the Geometric Fate of human existence.
QUAD is the finite frame that, despite yearning for the infinite nature and cosmos, cannot escape the four edges prescribed by its own body and reason.
Human thought fundamentally operates like a closed frame with ‘four edges’, unable to transcend the basic frameworks of Categorization (Concept), Division, Logic (Logos), and Judgment.
Existential Projection
The four corners of the canvas are not symbols of perfect balance, but the ‘Inescapable Frame’—the absolute boundary of perception formed when the self, reaching toward the Ideal, hits the wall of its own existence. This series honestly acknowledges my own finitude, accepting this inevitable confinement as the fundamental condition for plastic creation.
Plastic Tension
At times, this square canvas is rotated by 45 degrees and presented as a diamond shape. This is a performative (Praxis) attempt to apply an artificial Unbalance to the stable human intellect (the Human Frame), thereby instilling a dynamic tension within the closed form.
Existential Projection
The four corners of the canvas are not symbols of perfect balance, but the ‘Inescapable Frame’—the absolute boundary of perception formed when the self, reaching toward the Ideal, hits the wall of its own existence. This series honestly acknowledges my own finitude, accepting this inevitable confinement as the fundamental condition for plastic creation.
Plastic Tension
At times, this square canvas is rotated by 45 degrees and presented as a diamond shape. This is a performative (Praxis) attempt to apply an artificial Unbalance to the stable human intellect (the Human Frame), thereby instilling a dynamic tension within the closed form.
III. ORIGIN: The Logical Starting Point of Relation
Origin is not an ancient source or a mythological genesis. Origin is the ‘Logical Starting Point’ and the ‘Initial Position’ that is continually renewed in the present moment as the three elements clash and readjust their equilibrium within QUAD. Origin is the fourth structural dimension that is necessarily generated as the field of relation, because the 3-element composition (B, Y, R) cannot activate on its own.
Visual Pressure
Within the confined square area, the color planes of Blue, Yellow, and Red invade and support each other's territories, forming a strained Visual Pressure that transcends physical paint. This pressure is the very moment the three elements 'condition' each other, marking the initial access point (Interface) where structure begins to emerge.
Thus, Origin is the Principle of Generation that runs the potential for infinite expansion within the finite formal condition (QUAD).
IV. Modular System: Operational Transparency and Variable Expansion
While BYR Quad Origin adopts the language of Minimalism (simplicity, repetition, objectivity), its purpose is distinct.
Operational Transparency
Where Minimalism concentrated on the ‘materiality’ of form itself, I eliminate unnecessary complexity to ensure the system’s ‘operational principle’ is made transparent. The configuration of unadorned squares, triangles, and circles is not aesthetic restraint, but ‘functional clarity’—a strategic choice to transmit the internal logic without distortion.
Modular Expansion
Each canvas functions as a ‘crystallization’ and ‘Module’ of the BYR plastic language. Through this transparent Interface, the viewer intuitively senses how the immanent meanings of Human, Nature, and Cosmos interact. These modules possess the potential for infinite expansion, rotating into diamonds or combining into grids, proving that limitless structural freedom is possible even within the finite frame.
Conclusion: The Foundational Algorithm and Existential Praxis
BYR Quad Origin reveals the foundational algorithm of the entire BYR System in its most condensed form. QUAD demonstrates the structural limits of human perception (the square), yet simultaneously proves that Origin—the potential for infinite relation—is possible within that boundary. To reveal the logic of infinity composed by the finite human hand, that is the essence of the BYR Quad Origin series.
BYR Quad
