A Phenomenological Understanding of Atta Kim’s Spiritual Art

Atta Kim (1956-) is an artist who has opened a new chapter in the Korean wave of contemporary art by achieving the trinity of art, religion, and philosophy through the dialogical practice of existential consciousness. This paper aims to explore Atta Kim's holistic spiritual art, which encompasses religion, art, and philosophy, by analyzing the influence of Eastern religious thought, particularly Zen Buddhism and George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (1867-1949). Additionally, it attempts a phenomenological understanding of Atta Kim’s artworks, grounded in his art practice theory of image training, which unfolds in three stages: contemplation, absorption, and deconstruction. In particular, this paper demonstrates how Atta Kim’s unique artistic performance methodology has introduced a novel form of "spiritual art" aligned with the SBNR (Spiritual but not Religious) era. This is achieved through photographic techniques such as long exposure, digital superimpositions, and On-Nature drawing.