Conceived as a ten-metre hanji scroll, the work rethinks the format of a doctoral thesis as a spatial and experiential form, reinterpreting the tradition of the fifteenth-century Joseon landscape painting scroll. Drawing on East Asian garden philosophy, and in particular the Joseon concept of ui-won (意園), it proposes the garden not as a representation of nature but as a constructed condition for perception, thought and wandering. Rather than being read linearly, the scroll unfolds as a field through which the viewer moves, enacting what Lee describes as a 'liminoid' experience.

The project also emerged from an embodied and autoethnographic inquiry shaped by the post-digital condition and the technological transformations of the AI era. Following a serious leg injury sustained during his doctoral studies, Lee began to reconsider the relationship between the body, movement and the accumulation of marks. This shift led to a slower, more process-based approach, in which gesture, trace and temporal layering became central.

Empty Garden can be understood as an early conceptual and spatial foundation for the practice of data gardening that has continued to inform Lee's work. The work establishes the philosophical ground for his evolving approach to the cultivation, perception and transformation of data, laying the foundations for a broader artistic practice concerned with place, memory, the body, impermanence and transformation over time.

The Ashmolean acquisition of this thesis, passed with No Corrections, is separate from the Bodleian Libraries process. The acquisition followed an independent review process of approximately five years. It recognises the work's dual significance as both a work of art and a piece of doctoral research. The museum has confirmed that Jinjoon Lee is the first contemporary Korean artist to have a work enter the Ashmolean Museum's permanent collection, and has stated that when not on display, the work will be available for viewing by appointment.

Dr Jinjoon Lee FRSA is an Associate Professor at the KAIST Graduate School of Culture Technology in South Korea, a Visiting Fellow at Exeter College, University of Oxford, a Visiting Researcher at Tokyo University of the Arts, and an Affiliate Professor at New York University. He is represented by BB&M Gallery, Seoul.
www.leejinjoon.com