Let’s not be objects
<such a color, such a texture, and worn out>, 2021, play dough,a wooden board and stick,
paint,wrapping paper, size variable
<A well basin>, 2021,
basin,pebble,acrylic,
73×73×40cm
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<Triangular pillar>, 2021,
mixed media,
82×25×9cm
<Triangular pillar>, 2021,
mixed media,
82×25×9cm
The exhibition <Let's not be objects> began with criticism of today's reality, in which everything was subordinated to the principle of standardization through objectification. I paid attention to a ‘positive society’1) that stems from a culture that exposes oneself or everything in life through the aesthetic community today. The busy system of revealing only positivity in the aesthetic community makes look at each other as a product form that requires consumption, making individuals a uniform subject. In this objectified society, were entitled 'Let's not be objects' as a cry about the reality that many, including me, are becoming objects of one cut.
I think all of what exists in a ‘positive society’ is covered with deceptive elements. However, unlike that, today the word ‘transparency’ is emphasized in the whole society beyond politics and economy. The reason is that transparency is expected to bring more democracy, freedom of information, and higher efficiency. But this belief continues to require a state of visibility, so exposure is forced, and the coercion of exposure rather leads to their loss of honesty. Along with criticism of this reality, i created a work as one of the way to consideration about better world. Therefore, in the process of collecting everyday objects, i discovered objects that reveal themselves as they are, and through this process, I tried to pay attention to the honesty that is being lost today.
Objects captured in everyday life entered the work in a state close to the reality. The objects that entered the exhibition hall in their as they are do not distinguish boundaries. It was only organically connected in a state that confirms each other's existence at each location. These objects, which were there at the time, changed their shape and angle slightly and were placed in a new position. There were numerous factors in the process until this sculpture occurs, such as the state and situation at the time, the researcher's formative attempt, the connection with space, and the relationship between objects located nearby. Therefore, The process of making objects did not proceed within a set time with a planned and solid composition, but rather proliferates by indiscriminately interacting within a series of unpredictable situations.
1) In <Transparent Society>, Byung-cheol Han used ‘positive society’ as a term referring to today's society that rejects all negativity and pursues only positivity.
<I've been staring at the moon helplessly>, 2021,
acrylic on paper, 50×30cm
<Be stuck>,2021, iso pink, sponge,bead,wooden chopsticks,play dough, size variable
<Black plant pot>, 2021, mixed media,
size variable
<Let’s not be objects> Exhibition view, 2021
Objects in <Let's not be objects> are a recombination of everyday objects that are insignificant. They are common everywhere and do not feel their presence unless pay close attention. ‘Wooden chopsticks wrapper that disappears without knowing that they were there, flexible yellow rubber bands that relentlessly are thrown away, sinkholes that make to delay cleaning whenever washing dishes, leftover peanut shells and lost branches’. Uncanny and unnecessary but indispensable objects do not belong to any one place and hang obliquely between them. These objects are not classified in any way, and are simply called 'remaining' in the classification process. The clumsiness, uselessness, and weakness ,that is, dregs reflect the image of dregs deleted by the principle of identity of a positive society.
Under the name of ‘multi-original information and communication,’ we are trapped in a field of excessive visibility and constantly correct and refine negativity to become a product that stands out in it, or an object, to wrap it with positive things. Therefore, ambiguous and disturbing negativity is subject to removal without worrying, and the appearance of ‘me,’ ‘you,’ ‘we,’ and ‘society’ covered in the package is filled with deception. Therefore, today's society is far from honesty.
On the other hand, Alain Badiou(1937~) describes weakness as "having no prestige and pretense other than its own actual content and only shabby, roughness." Honesty remains in such fragile objects. They do not belong to anything and have no presence in an ambiguous position, but rather, their ambiguity and non-existence become honest objects by silently maintaining their position.
There is a blank in the foreground of the exhibition, and simplicity is inherent. In addition, this blank stimulates poetic imagination with lively atypical shapes or rough drawings everywhere. Through this composition, captures something that looks simple but difficult and indescribable. Therefore, visitors move to an 'open state' where moments of unfamiliarity and familiarity overlap and endlessly expand. The use of common and vulnerable materials leads to away from the state of absolute or coercion. Therefore, the work in a weak position induces the viewer to come closer to the substantiality, which is the honest state of the object itself, thereby providing a free state in which many can coexist in the process.
<Let’s not be objects> Exhibition view, 2021
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