Significance, Subject and Aesthetic

I've been having an extended e-mail discussion with DH (fellow-sculptor, friend and mentor) about, among other things, his statement that : 'Significance and subject are merely vehicles, and just as in the saying The Medium is the Message, the quality of the aesthetic is the message.  It is the subject.'
Something I initially disagreed with, as in my own work significance and subject are the message and the aesthetic is the vehicle. I like my work to stem from somewhere within that gives it a significance (and feel inspired by others’ work that does the same) and if I can make it pleasing to the eye, that is my vehicle to enable the significance to be conveyed. 'Significance' here is not just a thematic meaning, it also includes the in -depth, genuine exploration the artist has undertaken to arrive at the final artwork. A work of art speaks to me much more if I sense it comes from that kind of place.
I then began to read up briefly about Zen Buddhist art, in my search to understand my seemingly innate urge for simplification, to seek out the essence. Basically Zen Buddhist art seeks out the ‘essence’, which is what interests me primarily in what I do sculpturally; essence, clarity, simplicity.
Zen artists accept the object, i.e. the artwork, as is and present it for what it is, not what they think it means. Their art depicts spirit; they seek to interpret the spirit of an object - unlike Western art, which tends to be more interested in photographic representation and work with man-made symmetries and super-imposed forms, manipulating nature to fit the artist's own ideas. Zen artists seek to suggest the essence, the eternal qualities of the object. And they use the simplest possible means to suggest the inherent nature of the object.
This means of course that the ‘object’, i.e. the artwork, is what it is, stands for itself, has no significance other than being itself. Which, interestingly, comes down to DH's statement. And if you go with this theory, aesthetic is the message.
A fascinating evolution in the discussion ... and much food for thought.