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
가면대여소, 전주시 완산구 서노송동 696번지, 2017
대낮의 선미촌을 걷는 젊은 여성인 나는 종종 성매매산업 종사자로 오해되었고, 생면부지의 타인들은 내게 다가와 낮에도 들어갈 방이 있냐고 물었다. 나는 프랑스 파리에서 Place de Clichy역 근처에 2년동안 살았던 적이 있는데, 저녁이 되면 동양인 여성 성매매산업 종사자들이 지하철 역 앞에서 호객행위를 했다. 이런 이유로 나는 종종 성매매 여성으로 오해되었다. 공공장소에서 나에게 가격을 물어오던 순간은 위협적이기도 했다. 〈가면대여소〉는 이 오해의 과정에서 출발했다.
곁눈질로 호기심을 표현하며 거리를 기웃거리는 교복을 입은 남학생 무리, 대상을 똑바로 응시하며 유리문을 열어젖히는 남성과 동물 가면은 어떻게 관계를 맺을 수 있을까? 마찬가지로 동물가면을 쓰고 대낮의 거리를 배회하는 사람들과 선미촌은 어떤 관계를 맺을 수 있을까?
대여소 운영기간 동안 호스트로 상주하며 관람자에게 동물가면을 빌려주고 휴대폰으로 셀피를 한 장씩 찍어와 달라고 요청하였다. 관객이 가져온 사진을 엽서로 인화하여 전시하였고, 가면을 매개로 보는 행위와 그 대상과의 관계, 그리고 그것을 전시하는 행위 사이에 발생하는 심리적 경험을 제안하였다. 열흘 동안의 프로젝트 운영기간동안 두 명의 남성이 나를 성매매 산업 종사자로 오해하여 대여소 공간 뒤에 있는 방을 열어줄 수 있겠냐고 물었고, 가면을 쓰고 함께 놀자고 제안하며 신체접촉을 시도했다. 그 중 한명은 한국어를 전혀 하지 못하는 외국인이었는데, 나는 그에게 “I am not a prostitute.”를 수차례 반복해야 했다.
SOMEBODY Vs SOMETHING, MYOUNGSAN INN, JEONJU, SOUTH KOREA, 2017
Naming is a human privilege, as well as an important method in the formation of relationships to the world. Is a man, who can name animals, more superior than animals themselves? Inspired by the experience of witnessing roadkill and facing the eyes of the animal right before its death, I tried to question the relation between the animal’s death, myself, and the perceived hierarchies of death.
The exhibition space, Myungsan Inn, has a long and narrow hallway along six rooms and an outside space of about 26.5m². This architectural structure and environment without electricity form the space to experience the state of a dead animal. Visitors borrow flashlights from the inn’s first room and then view the dark hallway and epitaphs in rooms. The flashlights illuminate documentation of roadkill, and also serve as a metaphor for the car’s headlight. Through Bible verses installed all over, the work traces how men named and described animals. Animal masks are hung in the air and placed by the exit in order to suggest to viewers, to “become animal.”