Memory Archive

Memory Archive, 3 channel video 20’17”, 42inch TV, granite, 2019 @SeMA Storage
Memory Archive, 3 channel video 20’17”, 42inch TV, granite, 2019 @SeMA Storage
Memory Archive, 3 channel video 20’17”, 42inch TV, granite, 2019 @SeMA Storage

Memory Archive (2019) is a video installation that shows how Korean and Japanese people remember the former Japanese Governor-General building(韓國統監府) in Seoul, demolished in 1995. I interviewed 6 Korean and Japanese people who visited or remember the building to find out what their personal memories of the building are. In particular, some of the interviewees were against the demolition of  the building publicly, which meant they were considered to be pro-Japanese in Korean society. The interviews are played on 3 monitors, as if the participants are talking to one another outside an installation of stones which resembles an incomplete maze.

A sketch for a Foundation(2019)

A Sketch for a Foundation_single channel video 6’20”, string curtains, size variable 2019 @SeMA Storage
A Sketch for a Foundation_single channel video 6’20”, string curtains, size variable 2019 @SeMA Storage

This is a re-make version of <A Sketch for a Foundation>(2018).
The work compares an early childhood memory and what I found in the archive. When I visited the site as a child,
I had a primarily aesthetic experience of the building and it’s staircases and balustrades. However, this memory conflicts with the official narrative, which views the building primarily as a symbol of colonial power. The work explores the dissonance that occurs as personal memory conflicts with cultural memory and how aesthetic tastes are affected by political interests.

Oval Portrait

Gobo projector, acrylic mirror, etching, backlit print, pallet, Dimensions variable, 2018
Gobo projector, acrylic mirror, etching, backlit print, pallet, Dimensions variable, 2018

This work is an installation for the exhibition Brood Parasitism at Nanji exhibition hall.
In zoology, brood parasitism is a strategy practiced by some species of birds, like cuckoos, who lay their eggs in the nest of another bird and trick the host bird into raising the baby chick for them. In Brood Parasitism, each of five artists working in different media, is both the host bird and the parasite bird. They deliberately adopt, borrow, recycle or sample aspects of pre-existing art works by the other artists, and recontextualise them in their work. In this way, the exhibition focuses on articulating all semantic, associative and representational influences of artists on each other within a single art work.

I adapted the idea of Kyung Ryul Park, who raises a fundamental question about how images are looked at by relocating images and objects. Originally in Lost Corner (2018), a specific theme was determined and the work was arranged according to the exhibition venue’s architectural characteristics and the expected audience flow in order to highlight the particular theme. However, at Nanji, the original work will be re-presented without the original context or theme: elements will be removed – and added spontaneously – to open up a space to find something that was unnoticed before. This work is an experiment to see if I can liberate myself from my obsession with having a theme in my art practice.

Lost Corner _Stained glass

Lost Corner_stained glass_gobo beamer, acrylic mirror, curtain, 2018
Lost Corner_stained glass_gobo beamer, acrylic mirror, curtain, 2018
Lost Corner_stained glass_gobo beamer, acrylic mirror, curtain, 2018

Lost Corner is the title of a solo exhibition that consists of copperplate prints, video and light installations. The works are intended to complement one another and are situated on two levels: ground floor and underground. On the ground floor, the prints show architectural images of Jungangcheong, a former site of Japanese colonial administration. On the lower floor, a light rotates and reflects onto pleated curtains, while in the video Chung places and moves stones one by one in order to make a structure. The recording which accompanies the video features a news reader’s voice which relates part of the history of the building. As the official archive and the artist’s actions are incongruent, an aporia appears between personal memory and official past. Personal memory conflicts with official memory, which prevents a sense of closure from being reached.

 

A Sketch for a Foundation(2018)

Lost Corner_A sketch for a Foundation, single channel video, 31’44”, 2018
Lost Corner_A sketch for a Foundation, single channel video, 31’44”, 2018
Lost Corner_A sketch for a Foundation, single channel video, 31’44”, 2018

Lost Corner is the title of a solo exhibition that consists of copperplate prints, video and light installations. The works are intended to complement one another and are situated on two levels: ground floor and underground. On the ground floor, the prints show architectural images of Jungangcheong, a former site of Japanese colonial administration. On the lower floor, a light rotates and reflects onto pleated curtains, while in the video Chung places and moves stones one by one in order to make a structure. The recording which accompanies the video features a news reader’s voice which relates part of the history of the building. As the official archive and the artist’s actions are incongruent, an aporia appears between personal memory and official past. Personal memory conflicts with official memory, which prevents a sense of closure from being reached.

Lost Corner _etchings

Lost Corner_west, north, east_etching, 17x27cm, 15x16cm, 17x27cm(plate), 2018 @Art Space Grove
Lost Corner_Floor_etching, 15x27cm(plate), 2018
Lost Corner_North, South_etching, 45x60cm(plate), 2018

Lost Corner is the title of a solo exhibition that consists of copperplate prints, video and light installations. The works are intended to complement one another and are situated on two levels: ground floor and underground. On the ground floor, the prints show architectural images of Jungangcheong, a former site of Japanese colonial administration. On the lower floor, a light rotates and reflects onto pleated curtains, while in the video Chung places and moves stones one by one in order to make a structure. The recording which accompanies the video features a news reader’s voice which relates part of the history of the building. As the official archive and the artist’s actions are incongruent, an aporia appears between personal memory and official past. Personal memory conflicts with official memory, which prevents a sense of closure from being reached.

Retrace

27 copperplate prints, copperplate, vinyl text, glass sheet, wood sheet, 2017 @KNUA galley of Korean National University of Arts
27 copperplate prints, 60x80cm, 2017
27 copperplate prints, copperplate, vinyl text, glass sheet, wood sheet, 2017
27 copperplate prints, copperplate, vinyl text, glass sheet, wood sheet, 2017

This work started with my childhood memory of Jungangcheong (the former National Museum of Korea and site of Japanese colonial administration) which was demolished in 1995. It was both a physical and aesthetic experience as I walked around the interior of the building with its marvelous floor and curved staircase. In Retrace, I recall this past experience and recreate the now demolished building via copperplate prints of Jungang Hall, which was the center of the Jungangcheong. The copperplate prints show not only interior views of Jungang Hall, but also retrace the origin of the building from European colonial architecture models. Meanwhile, the list of books that I borrowed from my university library is shown on the surface of the outer window of the cube, which means the prints can be seen in conjunction with the list of books through the window. Just as Japan copied the style of colonial architecture from European colonial powers, I tried to trace a similar influence in my own work and juxtapose both in one space. This work shows the process of retracing the origin of my aesthetic sense, and suggests the emergence of a new perspective on my work.

entitled

Pencils, ropes, balls, metal stands, 2014 @Museum of Art, Seoul National University
Pencils, ropes, balls, metal stands, 2014
Pencils, ropes, balls, metal stands, 2014

A sculpture is installed in the exhibition site, consisting of metal stands, ropes and balls. Visitors are invited to offer their own titles for the work. With no single title for the work the meaning of the work is not fixed and is open to interpretation by the public. In this way, the work examines how meaning is constructed and co-constructed, and how a particular title might function as a cue for a specific interpretation of a work, when in reality any number of different titles could be chosen to act as cues for different interpretations.

Dialogue

Two table stands, dimmer switch, desk, 100x90x160cm, 2014 @ Library of TEMI Artist Residency
Two table stands, dimmer switch, desk, 100x90x160cm, 2014

There are two stands and one switch on a desk which controls the brightness of both lights. If someone touches the switch, it affects the brightness of the other light as well. The outcome of the work is undetermined – it may cause conflict, initiate a new encounter, or act as a pretext for negotiation. No definite outcome can be anticipated but will result from a process of co-construction.

St.Saviour’s Emergency Private Shelter

St. Saviour’s Emergency Private Shelter
Single Channel Video 3’10”, Customized fence, handcrafted cement blocks, 2012

The work consists of  a short video and two installed pieces, one inside and one outside the church, which demarcate the entrance and the exit to the emergency shelter respectively. Existing architectural features of the church space were used to create the illusion that the crypt of the church was an emergency shelter. The video infomercial is promotional and parodic in tone as it focuses on the tremendous benefits and the sense of luxurious exclusivity associated with living under the ground. Since in fact the Aberdeen Park Maintenance Company is registered  at the same address, in order to provide exclusive services to a private residents’ committee, the artist offers an exclusive, state-of-the-art security service to committee members.

The work, therefore, is not only a spatial and architectural response to the  Florence Trust site, but also alludes to the current and former roles of St. Saviour’s as a church, an art institution and as a service provider. The work addresses themes of exclusivity, salvation, sanctuary and false promises, aiming to combine these elements in an institutional critique.

Single Channel Video 3’10”, Customized fence, handcrafted cement blocks, 2012 @ Florence Trust