Leaving behind all that is "so 1990s
On February 17, 2004, at the opening of the Real Reality show at Kukje
Gallery, the artist Gwon O-Sang seemed to have put everything that
was of the 90s behind him, and in doing so, marked a small but significant
victory.
Through Real Reality, Gwon became the first artist to come knocking
on the doors of commercial success, and move beyond the obscure fray
of the present art scene, largely made up of ¡°second-generation baby
boomer¡± artists and established by the tendencies of the 1990s. (¡°Second-generation
baby boomers¡± refers to those born in Korea in the early-and mid-1970s.
The birth rate statistics chart for post-war Korea resembles a camel
with two humps. The first generation of baby boomers was born in the
mid-and late-1960s, and the talkative and problematic 386 generation
constitutes its core group. While the population momentarily paused
in 1971, the figures exploded again in the mid-1970s.
Those born during that time are the second-generation baby boomers, known as the ¡°Seo
Taiji¡± generation, which led the way to a mass consumer culture.)
Real Reality represented a very significant event, as the first show
within the domestic commercial gallery system that featured young
Korean artists in their early 30s as the exhibition headliners. (In
form, Real Reality was a four-person show that included Bae Bien-U
(b.1950), Gwon O-Sang (b.1974), Lee Yoon-jean (b.1972) and Lee Joong-keun;
in actuality, it was more like a three-person show of Gwon, Lee Yoon-jean
and Lee Joong-keun.) When editions of the works in the show sold in
large numbers following the opening, this served as proof that a domestic
market able to handle young Korean artists really did exist.
Did this
mean that a new ¡°niche market¡± had been cultivated? Sure enough, a
little later on in February 2005, Gwon captured the public eye when
he was chosen by Ci Kim (Kim Chang-il), head of Arario Gallery, to
be a represented by Arario, and the artist soon entered a one-year
hiatus. (As of 2006, Arario Gallery represents a total of 8 Korean
artists: Gwon O-Sang, Koo Dong-hee, Lee Hyungkoo, Chung Sue-jin, Baek
Hyun-jin, Park Sejin, Lee Dong-wook, and Jeon Joon-ho; and seven major
Chinese artists: Wang Guanyi, Yue Minjun, Zhang Xiaogang, Liu Jianhua,
Sui Jianguo, Fang Lijun, and Zeng Hao.)
The Korean art scene¡¯s current situation is a rather strange affair.
Actually, for the past couple of years, the same tiresome state of
affairs continued. However, maybe because a ¡°conversion to good quality¡±
was naturally bound to come around, a period of change that diverged
from the ¡°1990s system¡± finally arrived. For the past couple of years,
the art scene was based in a value system forged during the 1990s,
with a number of exhibitions and events playing a pivotal role in
its formation: the 1993 Whitney Biennale in Seoul; the 1998 Seoul
in Media?Food, Clothing, Shelter show; ArtSonje exhibitions, the Ssamzie
Residency Program, and the formation of alternative spaces like Pool,
Sarubia and Loop.
However, the emergence of a ¡°young artist boom¡±
following the 1998 Seoul in Media show did not directly translate
into commercial success and resembled more of a bubble effect, with
the only fruits of success harvested, without exception, by the generation
of artists led by Lee Bul and Choi Jeong-hwa.
However, Lee already
looks on the verge of being over-consumed and exhausted, while Choi,
who for a while seemed to have fallen behind in the competition, gave
up the possibility of making the 1990s truly his own. (Choi Jeong-hwa¡¯s
first museum solo show had been planned for October 2004 at Rodin
Gallery but was cancelled. ¡°Victory¡± very nearly could have been his.)
Yet these already obvious shifts could have just been due to the change
in major exhibition spaces.
The decline of 1990s values started to
become visible following the close of Ho-Am Gallery in February 2004,
and was even more acutely felt after Director Kim Sun-jung¡¯s ArtSonje
closed its doors in December 2004. And of course, that is not all.
The alternative spaces so vocal in the past about their founding objectives,
seem to have become, somewhat differently from their inception, the
gateway for ¡°study-abroad students¡± coming back to have ¡°homecoming¡±
exhibitions, (or maybe that was what they were supposed to be from
the beginning?), and they, along with their selected artists, appear
to be in the process of aging prematurely.
Out of the blue, Alternative
Space Loop built a building and turned into an awkward commercial
gallery in late 2005, and Alternative Space Pool closed its Insa-dong
period and moved to Gugi-dong in 2005, while Insa Art Space, which
claimed that ¡°it had never been an alternative space in the first
place,¡± moved to Gwanhun-dong in 2006, saying that it would now ¡°focus
on archiving and developing research¡± (namely, it would no longer
concentrate on exhibitions).
The Ssamzie art industry, which split
up and expanded into Ssamzie Space, Ssamzie Residency, Ssamzie Art
Warehouse, Ssamzie Gallery, Ssem-Ssem Clubhouse, etc., seems unable
grasp what real planning entails, with Director Kim Hong-hee focusing
her attention on organizing the 2006 Gwangju Biennale (Although the
artists in the 2005 residency program are much better than those in
the previous one).
In the case of Art Center Nabi, headed by Director
Noh So-young, it is rather negligible in terms of the influence it
has on the art world (unlike Ssamzie or ArtSonje), even though quite
a lot of money was spent over the years. Of course, while the opening
of the new Leeum Samsung Museum of Art in October 2004 brought some
fresh air to a Korean art world clouded by the signs of premature
aging, it was nothing more than the axis of a new power that brought
about the demise of 1990s values.
Then, is it possible for the Arario
Gallery artists, with Gwon O-Sang at the head, to open up a new territory?
This period in February 2006, just before Gwon¡¯s second solo show,
is a strangely dimwitted and forward-looking moment.
For a while, Gwon was called the Korean artist who ¡°had talent, but
no luck,¡± having applied to the Ssamzie Residency program three times
and getting dropped each time. But after showing at Kukje Gallery
and signing on with Arario Gallery, hardly anyone considers him an
artist short on luck. So before we see the new works in his upcoming
show in March 2006, let¡¯s take a careful look at what he has produced
in the past.
The beginnings of his work: Making
light sculptures
Gwon¡¯s photo-sculptures, which look as if David Hockney¡¯s
panorama photo works had been turned into solid, three-dimensional
bodies, give such a strong impression that they are hard to forget
after seeing them just once. His first works, ¡°A Demand of Proof¡±
and a series called A Tenacious Report on Power, all made in 1998,
had the slightly unfinished feel of amateur work, but were equally
as strong.
The works from 1998 were large enough to fit on top of
a studio work table, and were completely hollow inside. A sculptural
mass was constructed by means of a panoramic montage, or to put
it differently, a solid object was made by piecing together photographs.
The work process used in these first pieces could be considered
quite important.
After different parts of the model¡¯s body were
shot with the same light source, the film was developed and the
prints pieced together to form a sculptural body (made without looking
at the model). The fact that Gwon used this process to achieve a
sculptural end-result is without precedent in the history of contemporary
art. In fact, from the get-go, Gwon¡¯s works have contained an infinite
amount of possibilities, since they were born between the two families
of the photographic arts, which have increasingly declined to the
level of a techno-baroque craft, and the sculptural arts, which
have already declined so much that it is hard to make out a direct
line of descendants.
The artist, who graduated from the Hong-ik University sculpture
department, said that ¡°The gist of earlier works was to make ¡®light
sculptures.¡¯¡± So while his photo-sculptures look as if they are
solely photographic in nature, they are undoubtedly the offspring
of the sculpture family. (On artist Kang Young-mean¡¯s homepage,
there is a link to Gwon¡¯s own site, and he is surprisingly introduced
as a sculptor.
In the Korean art world, Gwon has been widely recognized
as someone working in photography; not once has he been called a
sculptor. So, Kang¡¯s usage of ¡°sculptor¡± to introduce Gwon struck
me as very strange.) However, it seems that the artist did not precisely
calculate the relationship between the surface appearance created
by the photographs and the sculptural mass.
Because the first works that he made in 1998 were paper sculptures
made solely with photographic prints, they were incredibly weak; so
when he increased the size shortly thereafter, he made an ¡°interior
structure¡± to support the paper-sculptures. Once he created these
interior structures, his early rationale of using a sequence of photo
prints to construct solid bodies immediately converted into an aesthetic
of Potemkin facades (This term refers to fictitious, optical-illusion
architecture and derives from the false buildings and facades that
Gregory Potemkin made for Catherine the Great in the late 18th century.)
Thus, afterwards, it appeared that Gwon was able to create, in a fairly
fascinating manner, variations on a world of false sculptures that
resembled the props and sets of television shows. (The relaxed rules
of his work conditions appear to have secured for the artist a certain
amount of semi-autonomy.)
The development of photo-sculptures
as photogenic as TV show sets
Gwon¡¯s first major work, ¡°A Family Photo of 440 Pieces Composed
of Tenacity,¡± was completed in 1999. This piece featured the artist¡¯s
parents seated on chairs and appears to have been the first piece
where a metal armature was produced.
But because of structural problems,
the artist has kept the partially damaged work in his studio. Looking
at documentary photos of the piece, it was originally displayed
along with a photo of the four members of the artist¡¯s family, and
judging from the documentation, it looks as if the artist might
have initially planned on making photo-sculptures of all four members.
However, the piece that really fit the bill for his initial goal
to create ¡°light sculptures¡± came with ¡°Unbearable Heaviness,¡± made
in the same year.
This sculpture of a rock made from photos taken
of a real one easily captured a sense of irony, while the inside
of the sculpture was filled with urethane foam. But it doesn¡¯t look
like the artist went to the trouble of turning the rock upside down
and shooting the bottom. So in a sense, this work too was a fool-the-eye
Potemkin facade. It only makes sense that strict modernist heroes
would feel hostile toward Gwon.
On the other hand, ¡°A Crumpled Plan on a Dreamy Journey¡± (1999),
a three-dimensional work made by crumpling up C-prints, was unable
to establish a sense of irony because of its rather vague line of
thought, and thus slides off the side of the network of meaning.
The artist called this ¡°the work that couldn¡¯t capture people¡¯s
attention,¡± and this piece, which was part of a series, tended to
try a little too hard to look like a ¡°work of art.¡± The fact that
the piece was firmly ¡°installed¡± above the bathtub in a public bathhouse
was rather contrived, but also in the case of the Spoiled Journey
series, it¡¯s hard to understand why these photo-sculptures made
from crumpled photographs had to be nailed into warped wooden frames.
Is it that the warped frames were metaphors symbolizing a ¡°spoiled
reality?¡± (By all means, I would hope not. The only term that has
a lamer status than ¡°metaphor¡± in the contemporary art world would
probably be ¡°expression.¡±) (But the crumpled sculptures do still
seem as if they have lots of potential. In contrast to his earlier
works, ¡°Pyeongchang-dong¡± (2002), a piece where a view of Pyeongchang-dong
has been crumpled up and put into a section of a window frame, is
very successful.
As a rare piece by Gwon that is site-specific,
issues of landscape and its photographic shooting, the notion of
the frame, and the result of a three-dimensional body being made
from a crumpled print can all be read in one, clearly explained
effort.
Of course, in terms of the work process, there is some disappointment
over the fact that he couldn¡¯t take the shot without including the
window.)
Gwon¡¯s probably best-known work, ¡°A Statement of 280 Pieces on the
Absolute Authority and Worship in Art,¡± was made in 1999, and consisted
of a Jesus-like figure nailed to a cross. Thanks to the way this
extremely photogenic piece used an illustrative composition that
combined religious imagery with Marshall Arisman-like images, it
gained much attention. (It¡¯s possible that this was Gwon¡¯s piece
de resistance.)
But then the brain has a way of tiring immediately
of the sugar-coated narrative. A naked man with a dog¡¯s head strung
up like Jesus and ¡°ART¡± written across the top as the name of the
crime----this is, like the title of the piece, a bit long-winded.
Thus, even though it has only been five years since its completion,
the piece already looks hackneyed, and it seems like the artist
considers it a little embarrassing as well.
Seeking diverse work logics
On the other hand, ¡°A Statement of 540 Pieces on Twins¡± and ¡°A
Statement of 420 Pieces on Twins,¡± two works created in 1999, appear
stable even when seen today. Actually, it is no wonder, for this
is because these works basically add on classic twists of irony
to his original, earlier works.
However, in contrast to the stability of the external appearance,
something is a little shaky about the rationale used to construct
the works, for, the two circuits making up these twins-- their being
photo-sculptures, and their Jacques Carelman, ¡°Impossible Object¡±-like
sense of irony?do not quite fit together and form a rather disconnected,
short-circuited relationship.
Of course, if the artist states that
the work is an examination on the possible differences that arise
when making a pair of identical sculptures from repeating identical
prints, then the doubts that I raised about the ¡°sculpture of irony¡±
can be dismissed. (If the artist claims that ¡°A Demand of the Reduction
Composed of 300 Pieces,¡± a piece from 2000 where the head has been
reduced, is a study of size reduction in photographs, then it is
possible to defend the work¡¯s logic.)
Yet you no longer have room to make excuses for the disjointed quality
of his works with ¡°A Statement of 360 Pieces on the Field of Multiple
Vision¡± (2000), where three ducks¡¯ heads have been attached to a
human body. Accordingly, I prefer strictly figurative works like
¡°On the Languishment of 340 Pieces¡± (2000), where there are no disparate
elements that have been juxtaposed, no changes in the human scale,
and the basis of the piece is simply the reproduction of photographs
through a three-dimensional sculpture.
Works like ¡°A Castrated Entry¡±
(2000) and ¡°¡¯Re-assembled Flower Petals¡± (2000), which could be
read as up-scaled sculptural works made with enlarged prints, can
also be considered good works.
However, I¡¯m a bit displeased by the rather incoherent titles. The
majority of his works seem to have been named after their completion,
and these rather heavy-handed titles are hard to take in. (Of course,
in the case of the sculptures where the number of prints used in
their construction has been established, the amount of prints had
to be pre-recorded; in which case, the numbers in the titles have
been decided beforehand.)
Although the artist said that ¡°Because
I didn¡¯t consider the titles to be that important to the work, I
initially tried to give them an ¡®untitled¡¯ feel,¡¯¡± but it is hard
to get this ¡°untitled¡± feeling, especially when he names a work
of a flower with petals and no stamen ¡°A Castrated Entry.¡± This
is why I prefer rather blunt works that have plain names like ¡°A
Traveler¡¯s Suitcase¡± (2000). (It would have been better if works
like ¡°Meaningless Emission,¡± (2000) a reproduction of a heavy-duty
garbage bag filled with trash, was just called ¡°Trash.¡±) If it¡¯s
an ¡°untitled feel¡± he was after, ¡°A Statement of Meaningless 360
Pieces¡± (2000), which was part of his installation, ¡°A Comfortable
Journey,¡± would have been about it.
Deodorant Type
Gwon says that beginning with his first solo show in 2001 at Insa
Art Space, he started to gain recognition as an artist. At his first
solo show, where the allegory of a ¡°Deodorant type¡± was used in
the show¡¯s title, a new thread of logic unseen in previous works
could be detected. Deodorant type, which could seemingly suggest
some new type of photo printing, was borrowed from Nivea brand deodorant.
There¡¯s no reason why a deodorant used to cover up armpit smells
would sell very well in Korea, but it was at least successful in
awakening the interest of an artist named Gwon O-Sang. Then exactly
what kind of social narrative does the deodorant allegory elicit?
Does this mean that Gwon¡¯s works demonstrate a cover-up and surface-illusion
quality, just as the term ¡°deodorant type¡± suggests the effect of
a superficial cover-up? Then does this mean that this exhibition
is about concealed set-like constructions and the illusionism of
photographs?
The work that first gained attention was ¡°An Alien?A Statement on
the Viewfinder Composed of 350 Pieces¡± (2001), which was used for
the show¡¯s advertisement poster. Religious imagery was again used
here. The piece was installed so that its feet were lifted slightly
off the ground and features an alien-like naked figure in the Amita
pose, which symbolizes the present, transient life. I was at a loss
to discover what kind of relationship this piece had to the other
works. This is because at about the time of this exhibition, Gwon
began to borrow from aesthetic elements found commercial advertisements.
A quick glance through Gwon¡¯s work notebook revealed that he had
made scraps of several images taken from advertisements and fashion
magazines. What was really eye-catching was how he had borrowed
model¡¯s poses for his sculptures. The position of the Siamese twins
featured fighting with their own images in ¡°A Statement of Entangled
480 Pieces¡± was taken from the poses struck by models in a Gucci
ad, while the woman sitting on the ground with one leg extended
out in front of her in ¡°A Statement of Meaningless 360 Pieces¡± (2000)
cites an Ungaro ad campaign.
Then where did ¡°Chinese Garden,¡± a
piece that reproduces an oddly shaped ornamental rock, such as those
particularly loved by the Chinese, find its source? The artist¡¯s
response is extremely fascinating:I have a lot of interest in advertisements. At around the time I
was making this piece, the ¡°zen¡± look was in. Westerners first took
in Chinese, Japanese and other Asian cultures as Orientalism, and
that Orientalism became revived as a retro trend in the 90s, and
I found it fascinating that the style was in turn imported into
a country like Korea, where it was circulated and distributed as
a very odd form of fashion.
It was at this point that I was able to figure out the hidden thread
of the exhibition, and I became slightly restless, as if I had discovered
a fascinating secret.
If you look closely, it appears that the photo-sculptures created
after his solo exhibition all contain certain elements found in
advertisements. This is the case in ¡°Tender¡± (2002), a piece where
a man in a yoga pose has soap suds covering his hands. In the artist¡¯s
work files, ad images have been neatly gathered and among them,
Dior¡¯s bubble-and-soap suds ad campaign and the Korean fashion shoots
that borrowed from the Dior ads catch the eye. Goodness, the artist
was much more thorough and precise than I had previously imagined.
I made similar discoveries with the three photo-sculptures that
he showed at Kukje Gallery. The works featuring his friends from
university all take on rather tense poses, and little wonder---the
man standing in the hooded tee in ¡°Action Sampler¡± is the artist-cum-singer
and occasional poet Baek Hyun-jin, who gained a name as the singer
in the Uhuhboo Project; the man with his head in the bushes, or
in ¡°Hyde Park¡± (2003), is the artist Lee Hyungkoo, who makes strange
optical devices; the woman in ¡°Miss¡± (2003) who is bent over backwards
and showing off her shoes is the artist Koo Donghee, known for making
witty videos.
Looking through the artist¡¯s files, it appears that
in the case of ¡°Miss,¡± the pose from a doll in a Diesel ad was borrowed.
(Even more striking are the other ads that feature the same backwards-bend
pose.) In the case of the two other works, it is difficult to pinpoint
their specific origins, but it is certain that they too have an
element of appropriation.
For young artists, the first solo show is an important rite of passage.
Most artists become discouraged by the fact that people do not immediately
show an enthusiastic response, and they may even feel frustration
toward a harsh reality (there are surprisingly few artists who realize
that it is not true that a show has to be good in order for magazines
and newspapers to write a review), but in fact, good exhibitions
have a way of creating unexpected footholds. Gwon¡¯s solo exhibition
caught the eye of ArtSonje Director Kim Sun-jung, and Kim purchased
the oddly-positioned twins caught up a bad relationship, or ¡°A Statement
of Entangled 480 Pieces.¡± For Gwon, this was his first sale. The
artist said that he gained confidence afterwards.
And this was probably not only a confidence booster in terms of
his work, but a boost because a piece lacking structural stability
had been sold. And just in the knick of time?the artist had just
before contemplated selling the prints used to make the sculptures
by framing and editioning them, just to sell some work. (The artist
said that he had arranged the prints used in photo-sculptures in
a flat format in an actual exhibition.) However, after this first
purchase, those kinds of works were not realized. This is how a
sharp-eyed collector¡¯s small decision became a large boon, and not
just in terms of money, to the artist. ( ¡°Fear of 280 Pieces¡± from
2001, which was featured in his solo show, was sold in Japan when
it was exhibited there. This was the first overseas sale for the
artist.)
The easy overcoming of a sophomore
complex
Young artists are often troubled by a sophomore complex (particularly
the more so if they succeed with sparkling ideas). However, Gwon
was easily able to push this period aside. Beginning in 2002, Gwon
gained much popularity as an artist and was asked to participate
in both small and large exhibitions abroad. Once they are consumed
by the system, many artists cannot get a hold over themselves and,
being unable to produce new works, waste energy trying to match
the schedules of any exhibition within sight. Gwon was no different.
Over some drinks, the artist quietly mumbled the peculiar words,
¡°I didn¡¯t even have the chance to get depressed over the fact that
I had turned 30 because I¡¯ve been so busy.¡± But in contrast to the
other artists his age, he was able to gain some time by creating
a new series called The Flat (2003) (and in the process gained a
little money too).
The Flat series is the safety work that has secured
the artist some time for thought, so that he can make further progress.
On top of that, this work continues on the theme of the strange
contrast found in his photo-sculpture works, and as another ¡°big
idea,¡± makes his previous works look even more striking.
The Flat series is the culmination of an eye-fooling Potemkin facade.
In this work where photographs of watches have been cut out from
magazines and laid out according to different types and then re-photographed,
he stimulates people¡¯s worldly desires. But the objects so teeming
with life in the works are all fake.
Some of the ads stand on paper
legs, but others, propped up on wires, can barely hold their ground.
If you look closely at the print, little bits of wire are visible.
This mischievous piece has so many possibilities and directions
that it can go in, it¡¯s fun just thinking about what future spin-offs
might look like. (The artist said that for later works, he is thinking
about shooting all of the objects featured in the March issue of
GQ magazine, or perfumes, cameras, etc. The idea of shooting the
magazine issue is undoubtedly a fabulous idea. That¡¯s definitely
a sharp one.)
When I first saw this work, I thought that Gwon was
simply exploiting countless photographers. Probably the most difficult
and laborious thing to shoot are those objects deemed ¡°luxury goods.¡±
Each object is shot using the best conditions and photographers.
(Especially in the case of products that have a reflection like
watches, the shooting must be even more rigorous so that the photographer
or camera is not shown in the watch. It is no easy task.) Each of
the aesthetic heights of perfection attained within this elaborate
system is quite simply appropriated in The Flat. This is an ¡°art
of plundering¡± that cannot be blamed. It¡¯s fantastic. But the episode
that started it all is even more so.
One day, the artist Lee Hyungkoo was visiting Gwon¡¯s studio and
out of the blue, he said that if you go to Namdaemun Market, you
can get ¡°bling-bling watches¡± that look real, and that it would
be a riot if Gwon bought one and was seen wearing it at an art opening.
So on the spot, Gwon cut out a ¡°bling-bling watch¡± and fastened
it around Lee¡¯s wrist.
It was as good as gold. Afterwards, the paper
watch was placed on the wrist of the ¡°twins¡± piece found at the
entrance to Gwon¡¯s studio, and the artist remarked that no one had
a clue that it was just a flimsy piece of paper. Once this began,
Gwon, who had initially made up his mind to make still life photo
works, began to work on ¡°still life works¡± made from magazine cut-outs.
Props to Lee Hyungkoo.
Spielraum? The space that will unfold
next
Just because Gwon is spending his time on ¡°still life photos¡± does
not mean that the questions and themes posed by his earlier works
have been resolved. Gwon needs to come up with a more elaborate,
historically-bound reasoning to deal with the issue of flat photographs
becoming three-dimensional forms.
Of the remarks made on his works
by critics, the one that bothered him the most was that ¡°well, if
you look at the work as sculptures, they don¡¯t amount to much.¡±
The precise quote is the following. ¡°¡¦If you read his works as sculptures,
no real issue is posed by them. This is because they are no more
than sculptures made by using an easy formula where the obligation
to depict something is just put onto the photograph¡¦.¡± (Kim Seung-hyun,
Jirokwima, exhibition preface, 2000).
This is the vital point that indicates with certainty that the artist
thinks of his work as ¡°sculpture.¡± However, in order for the artist¡¯s
photo-sculptures to be recognized as a legitimate child of the rather
old-fashioned family of contemporary sculpture, there are a number
of processes that must be elaborated upon.
If the historical phase
that his works carry as sculptures becomes clearer, then through
that, the history of sculpture itself will have to take into account
those things that exist beyond a traditional history of the sculptural
arts?like the previously-excluded Potemkin facade entities that
resemble TV-set props; this process would entail going through a
grueling trial.
But if the rationale behind the artist¡¯s works do
not become clearer, then his photo-sculptures, different from the
conceptualized, ¡°objectual¡± sculptures of artist Chung Seo-young,
may not succeed in gaining the status of ¡°legitimate children of
the sculpture family.¡± Unfortunately, the responsibility of establishing
proof lies with the artist.
And that¡¯s not all. In order to properly conserve and sell his works,
he has to solve the difficult problem of structural durability.
(For quite some time, in the case that a photo-sculpture is sold,
he has promised to repair defects. But after becoming a so-called
¡°successful artist,¡± it would be a rather embarrassing thing to
go about doing repair work.)
And there¡¯s still more. The selected
facets borrowed from advertisements are still vague. Only afterwards
when more works have accumulated, will it be possible to read and
evaluate a meta-narrative of those hidden threads, but if those
works start to be read according to the artist¡¯s arbitrary choices,
then they could become nothing more than forms of ¡°self-expression.¡±
Of course, it¡¯s still too early to worry. He is but a young artist
of 33, still at an age where he has just reached the door of success.
The spaces that will open up before him appear as if they will grant
him quite a lot of semi-autonomy.
Already, in his right hand he holds the rights to a diamond mine
(photo-sculptures), and in his left hand he possesses the rights
to a gold mine (flat works). If he chooses to dig the diamond mine,
he will have to continue struggling, but for now, he will gain some
time by exploring the gold mine. (As the critic Hal Foster said)
This can only be successful if the artist¡¯s semi-autonomy is used
as a tactical method. If the artist unduly grants himself an unprincipled
semi-autonomy, then the unlimited freedom and time that unfolds
may become a fatal poison. Gwon O-sang now stands at the crossroads.
* This essay was originally prepared in April 2004 as a part of
the ¡°Korean Contemporary Artist Studies Project and was revised
in February 2006.
Translator¡¯s Note: 386 refers to those in their
30s, born in the 60s, who attended school in the 80s. As this group
has now moved into its forties, the current proper term would be the
¡°468 generation.¡±
T.N. Seo Taiji is the lead singer from the famous rock band ¡°Seo Taiji
and Boys,¡± which debuted in 1992. The singer/songwriter was known
for combining a variety of styles (punk, ska, hip hop, heavy metal)
previously unseen in the Korean music industry with teen-angsty lyrics
that a younger generation of listeners in the 1990s identified with.
T.N. This is the German term for room to move
or leeway; the author defines it as
¡°time and space to play around in.¡±
T.N. Jirokwima ò¦ÖãêÓØ© means something like ¡°Pointing
to a deer and calling it a horse,¡± and is a saying that originated
with Zhao Gao (ðáÍÔ), a crafty eunuch during the Qin Dynasty (221-207
BCE). Zhao tested a crown prince to see whether he would bend to his
will by bringing him a deer and calling it a horse. After the crown
prince called it a sheep, Zhao forged a false edict and had him killed,
instating another prince as king. The saying implies a person who
takes over power by intentionally deceiving his superiors and also
suggests a person who convinces another person by arguing through
a spurious statement. Interestingly, the author noted that the saying
has implications for Gwon¡¯s photo-sculptures as well (interview with
author, Feb. 2, 2006).