That which is seen and that which exists.
space, and a realistic panorama of the life that embroiders it.
"Come a little closer and see the existence which you could not see. - That which is seen that which exists.”
"What forms this cold city, was in fact, the warm lives that exist in it. - in city light"
"Space that form a network of resonance so powerful it spreads to the farthest, unseen corners. The story of such a setting. - One spot”
one spot, The engine of San Francisco. / 100x200x8cm / pigment print on acrylic layers / 2014
All series of the works thus far carry the same context: the task of <revealing the raw essence hidden under the immediate surface>.
1.
The context is set in North Ahyeon district, an area selected for redevelopment. Personally having climbed up the hillside and having met the residents of the place initially regarded as another mere, shanty neighborhood destined to disappear brought about a significant change of perspective - an inner transition. The gap between the hastily determined, simplified, third-person ‘perception’ of this place and the actual ‘essence’ of it which could only be appreciated after a closer, more intimate observation was so profoundly immense. So much so that the process leading up to such a discovery became the central subject of the work.
2.
If music, film, and literature were art forms based on the foundation of 'time', fine art is a form based on the foundation of 'space'. Music and literature have a beginning and an end and, thus, guide the audience along the passage of time, but with fine art this is not the case. The order and method in which one chooses to appreciate a visual form of art varies on each individual, and it is not determined by the creator but is solely decided by the viewer.
A single piece was deemed inadequate to thoroughly express the concept of <hasty, simplified perception> transitioning to <actual essence>. However, there is one method of viewing a work of art that no spectator can change and that is 'to see from afar then to see up close'. It is this method that became the loophole through which 'time' could be included as part of the art piece. The use of this palpable quality that is ‘time’ delivers the message of the context penetrating through the art piece.
1906, here no.1 / 53x160x7cm / pigment print on acrylic layers / 2014
3.
‘'Judge not from afar, but come closer and see"
4-1
Rather than a photograph of the entirety of North Ahyeon district taken at an elevated location with an eagle-eye view, a shot of a specific, limited portion of the landscape right before me was taken using a telescopic lens with high magnification. I proceeded to turn the camera angle by 7 to 10 degrees, shoot again, and repeat this process until I was in possession of hundreds of pictures.
4-2
Such photographs were then printed, adhered to an acrylic plate, and cut with a laser into the silhouettes of actual residents of Ahyeon district. When this process is repeated, hundreds of acrylic residents who each contain a portion of a photograph of the neighborhood are compiled. These acrylic residents are then strategically stacked and combined into one whole image of the district.
Such photographs were then printed, adhered to an acrylic plate, and cut with a laser into the silhouettes of actual residents of Ahyeon district. When this process is repeated, hundreds of acrylic residents who each contain a portion of a photograph of the neighborhood are compiled. These acrylic residents are then strategically stacked and combined into one whole image of the district.
5. From afar, a piece created through such a process can only observed as a single, large image. Yet, the closer one physically brings oneself to the piece, the more one brings oneself face to face with the numerous, individual residents that unified and merged into a single image.
1096, hear No.2 / 60 x 60 x 6cm / pigment print on acrylic layers / 2014
(series of '1906, here' are told about San Francisco earthquake in 1906)
6.
The night view of a vast city, expressed through drops of glimmering city lights, is comprised of silhouettes representing each and every individual citizen busily carrying out their lives in it. The streets of present day Hong Kong contain fragments of the scenery and people who have walked through the same streets a century ago. Likewise, present day San Francisco embodies numerous pieces of the long-forgotten people still striving to recover from the impact of the major earthquake in 1906. It is in this way that these works <reveal the raw essence hidden under the immediate surface>.
