NOTE FOR AHN(安), GALLERY 175, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, 2019
Exhibition Note for AHN (安) was a two-person exhibition I organized with Ahn Jaeyoung, which began from the question of whether an individual could escape from being possessed — one of the mysterious symptoms containing elements of superstition from Korea. The exhibition, tracks how images attained from one’s superstitious beliefs relate to mythical and religious images, then recombines and deconstructs them. Under our collaboration lies the hope to contact invisible but clearly existing sensual phenomena, and to together overcome anxieties, interpreting phenomena as the destiny of artist/mediator.
Paying attention to the number of tattoos on Ahn Jaeyoung‘s body (the Chinese character 安, a blue diamond, an arrow, a red-haired Anne, Piglet, Mickey Mouse, and an epitaph of Nikos Kazantzakis), I interpreted each image as a charm to ward off Ahn’s anxieties. I then, researched mythical and religious imagery in order to strengthen the shamanistic narrative. Observing that the number 12 frequently works as important motive in the myths of many different cultures, I set Ahn Jaeyoung‘s birthday, December 12, as a central axis and tried to discover the references to god-related signs from the number 12. Combining the symbolic world of the image, language, color, and numbers from ancient myths from twelve animals that guards tombs, I created a chart for a system of faith and proposed a psychological space for a praying man, just like the secret connotation of the ancient character, 安
NOTE FOR AHN(安), GALLERY 175, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, 2019
Exhibition Note for AHN (安) was a two-person exhibition I organized with Ahn Jaeyoung, which began from the question of whether an individual could escape from being possessed — one of the mysterious symptoms containing elements of superstition from Korea. The exhibition, tracks how images attained from one’s superstitious beliefs relate to mythical and religious images, then recombines and deconstructs them. Under our collaboration lies the hope to contact invisible but clearly existing sensual phenomena, and to together overcome anxieties, interpreting phenomena as the destiny of artist/mediator.
Paying attention to the number of tattoos on Ahn Jaeyoung‘s body (the Chinese character 安, a blue diamond, an arrow, a red-haired Anne, Piglet, Mickey Mouse, and an epitaph of Nikos Kazantzakis), I interpreted each image as a charm to ward off Ahn’s anxieties. I then, researched mythical and religious imagery in order to strengthen the shamanistic narrative. Observing that the number 12 frequently works as important motive in the myths of many different cultures, I set Ahn Jaeyoung‘s birthday, December 12, as a central axis and tried to discover the references to god-related signs from the number 12. Combining the symbolic world of the image, language, color, and numbers from ancient myths from twelve animals that guards tombs, I created a chart for a system of faith and proposed a psychological space for a praying man, just like the secret connotation of the ancient character, 安
Installation view of Jan van eyck academie openstudios 2021 Still cut, The geometry of the hunter, Single channel video, 2021
고급 주택화를 위한 재개발 현장은 이미 익숙해진 폐허와 다시 태어남의 반복이었다. 고급 주택을 위한 땅으로 다시 태어나기 위하여 금기의 땅은 사라져야 하고, 녹색사막이라 불리는 깎아지른 새로운 땅은 언제나 옳은 선택이며 땅을 잃은 동물들은 매일 밤마다 사체로 발견된다. 재생되기 위하여 반드시 사라져야만 하는 세계는 정치 경제적 논리에 의해 억압 속에서 유령처럼 존재하는데, 2016년부터 진행하고 있는 일련의 작업은 ‘이러한 세계간의 폭력적 관계를 어떻게 시각적으로 드러낼 수 있는가’ 의 고민으로부터 출발하였다. 개발을 향한 여러 갈래의 질문 속에서 작업의 모든 과정이 순차적이고 계획적으로 진행된 것은 아니지만, 영원한 현재처럼 보이는 실재의 장소가 가진 힘의 논리에 시각적 장치를 통하여 개입해보고자 하였다. 작업을 통해 내가 바라보는 사회적 모순과 갈등에 변화를 가져올 수는 없겠지만 이 세계로부터 내일 탈락될지도 모른다는 심리적 불안과 막연한 공포를 드러내는 방식, 그것에 반응하는 형식을 탐구하는 과정에 있다.
2016