Fetching Water I - VI, 2014
archival pigment ink prints in layers on FineArt Exhibition Matte 285 g/m²
photographs of the river Danube teared by hand
all figures are made of copper, hand sawn and milled, hand applied schoolboard varnish
image size 16 x 16 cm each
framed 142 x 31 cm totally
signed, titled, dated, and editioned on verso
unique copy
He Just Wanted to Go to the River for Water
A Short Zen Story
Go to the river and fetch me a cup of water, said the Zen master to his student.
As the student was filling the cup with water by the river, he saw a beautiful woman his age upstream. The woman also looked at him and suddenly they fell madly in love. He moved in with her on her family’s estate in a quiet village and they built a house.
Over the years, children were born to them. They were happy together and supported themselves from the farming they did.
One day, a flood came. The village was flooded and he and his family had to take refuge on the roof of the house. A big storm came up. His children were swept away one by one by the raging water and eventually drowned. His wife was also swept away and perished in the floods.
When the storm subsided, he sat huddled on the roof of his house, lonely and desperate. He stared into the air. A nightmare - after all the happy and beautiful years!
Then a hand placed itself on his shoulder from behind. It was his master’s hand asking him: “What took you so long? Didn’t you just want to get a cup of water?”