Final answer:
Saburo Murakami's 'Passing Through' performance, destroying sheets of paper, addresses art's ephemerality and the conceptual over the physical, similar to post-WWII performance art which used the body to express shared human experiences. Murakami's work links back to the history of paper in Japanese art, recalling practices from ukiyo-e to the contemporary era.
Step-by-step explanation:
Saburo Murakami's performance of 'Passing Through,' where he mounted blank sheets of paper in frames and destroyed them, is deeply rooted in the artistic exploration of ephemerality, impermanence, and the conceptual emphasis on the artist's action over the artwork itself. This approach to art making can be linked to the broader movement within performance art and the action contingent practices seen in the works of Kazuo Shiraga of the Gutai group and the action paintings of Jackson Pollock. Interestingly, in parallel with the abstraction and performance of the mid-20th century, performance after World War II used the physicality of the body to confront viewers with the shared reality of human existence, considering the profound psychological impact of the Holocaust and the atomic bomb.
Just as John Baldessari's 'Cremation Project' was a rite of transformation from his early to mature work, Murakami's 'Passing Through' can be seen as a statement on the destruction and creation process, and a metaphor for passing from the physical to the conceptual realm within art. The significance of the paper used by Murakami is multifaceted; it's not just a medium but a symbol of traditional forms like ukiyo-e prints, which capture the transient 'floating world' of the Edo period. In this respect, Murakami's performances reflect upon the historical significance of paper in Japanese art—from the ukiyo-e prints to the meditative actions of destroying it to make a conceptual statement.