Rýmd
2026
2026
Nothing is hidden
Nothing is hidden is a manifestation of contemplations on surface and mass, perspectives, values and the concept of real. The title comes from Zen master Dōgen and is a core teaching in Zen Buddhism. It means that reality is not beyond phenomena, but that phenomena are a full expression of reality. Even though he also writes that when one side is illuminated, anther side is dark, it doesn’t mean something is hidden beyond a facade, but that our perspectives are limited and partial. So the world is always there, even though we may not be able to experience all aspects at any given time. His claim is that there is no surface as a disguise, but that surface is substance. This is a call to not search elsewhere, beyond yourself and your physical reality, and a confirmation that the zen state is not found in detachment, but in full presence with your surroundings and activities. This view is at odds with Plato’s Theory of Forms, which proposes that the whole phenomenal world is nothing but surface, or even illusion, a collection of signifiers if you will. To me this sense of attachment or detachment seems meaningful when it comes to the value we assign to our physi- cal world, and it leads me to contemplate the cascading effects such worldviews have on our interaction with the phenomenal world, our attitudes towards materiality and our willingness to interfere, extract and transform
Nothing is hidden is a manifestation of contemplations on surface and mass, perspectives, values and the concept of real. The title comes from Zen master Dōgen and is a core teaching in Zen Buddhism. It means that reality is not beyond phenomena, but that phenomena are a full expression of reality. Even though he also writes that when one side is illuminated, anther side is dark, it doesn’t mean something is hidden beyond a facade, but that our perspectives are limited and partial. So the world is always there, even though we may not be able to experience all aspects at any given time. His claim is that there is no surface as a disguise, but that surface is substance. This is a call to not search elsewhere, beyond yourself and your physical reality, and a confirmation that the zen state is not found in detachment, but in full presence with your surroundings and activities. This view is at odds with Plato’s Theory of Forms, which proposes that the whole phenomenal world is nothing but surface, or even illusion, a collection of signifiers if you will. To me this sense of attachment or detachment seems meaningful when it comes to the value we assign to our physi- cal world, and it leads me to contemplate the cascading effects such worldviews have on our interaction with the phenomenal world, our attitudes towards materiality and our willingness to interfere, extract and transform
photos: Anne Rombach & Steinunn Önnudóttir