Irony, play and compassion

Borrowed scenes work on the mutual conceit of the window as an image and an image as a window. In a garden a shallow space behind an opening may be composed with plants and stones in imitation of a painted composition. LI Yu 李漁 (1610—1680), a late Ming/ early Qing writer (and conceptual artist had the term been known) took the game further, framing his borrowed scene with paper as if it were a painting. And then he had a painting made to hang in the window, substituting the scene - and so taking matters to their ultimate conclusion.

Sound can also be 'borrowed', and may relate to inscriptions in nearby spaces. A text referring to wind through pines or the trickling of water may be strategically separated from the a nearby source of these sounds. On reading, the relation is made, the game sprung.

Similarly, borrowed smells may be a seasonal matter, with fragrant plantings hidden under or beside a window or passage, and also suggested to the passerby through an inscription.