delete 

Editor: This piece is called "delete," made with acrylic paint by Kazuaki Tanahashi, although it’s missing a date. It's really dynamic, with this swirling blue form contrasting with the white space. What do you see in this work? Curator: Immediately, I'm drawn to how this abstract piece, through its bold circular form, engages with the concept of "wholeness," referencing the Zen Buddhist concept of the "enso." What socio-political anxieties do you think artists like Tanahashi were responding to through pared-down expression and an appeal to pre-modern, anti-rational, Eastern traditions? Editor: Well, I'm not sure, but I guess I assumed the form was more about formal abstraction than political anything. It's a simple, elegant gesture. Curator: And yet, this 'simple gesture' could also represent a rejection of Western art's established canons and a search for alternative forms of visual expression. It certainly resonates with a broader critique of Western epistemology. Does the concept of 'decolonizing the gaze' resonate here? Editor: Hmm, interesting. So you are saying, even in its simplicity, this form implicitly challenges dominant cultural narratives by referencing non-Western aesthetics and spiritual concepts. Curator: Precisely. What can an aesthetic of apparent deletion—of reduction—tell us about resistance to dominant forms, especially at a time of increasing globalization and cultural homogenization? Is it an effort at radical aesthetic inclusivity? Editor: I never thought about it that way. It reframes the entire work; what I considered purely formal suddenly takes on cultural and even political weight. Curator: It’s a powerful reminder that even seemingly abstract forms can be deeply embedded within broader historical and cultural contexts, revealing subtle acts of cultural defiance and reclamation.