Most people have probably wondered at some point about the origins of living things, whether human, animal, or plant. For me, the question of how humans came to be and how evolution ultimately led to the emergence of human civilization has been a point of continual fascination. In my late twenties, I had the opportunity to travel to the historic sites of various ancient civilizations. Along the way, I met people from various backgrounds and grew curious about their cultures and histories. This was a formative experience that continues to shape my work and guide me in the development of my craft.

One incident from those years is particularly memorable. I was traveling along the Mediterranean coast when I happened to stumble upon an archaeological excavation. My curiosity was instantly piqued, and I found myself deep in thought: Were the artifacts being unearthed at this site truly thousands of years old? What if a much more advanced civilization had existed long before humans emerged, not thousands but millions of years ago? What if traces of this earlier civilization were lying beneath the surface of the earth, waiting to be discovered?

This project thus started from imagining a new civilization and creatures which we never knew. The Secret of Evolution #J-4 Natural, Embracing the Human and Mechanical is an unidentifiable object, labeled #4, that was discovered deep in the inland area of the Korean Peninsula in Northeast Asia. When discovered, it looked like an animal-plant-machine-human variant covered with iron-like metal in and out. I imagine that J-4 has been here with us in the Korean Peninsula from a point five millions of years ago, which overcame all sorts of environmental changes (global warming, volcano eruptions, glacial periods, etc.) and largely affected the evolution of living beings. Imagine that the living beings that started from #J-4 have emerged and transitioned into various beings that exist and breed on earth. So #J-4 might have accelerated the evolution of various creatures and also affected the evolution of human beings. I believe it might have exchanged energy with the ancestors of Homo Sapiens, Fauna and Flora, which affected the development of present-day creatures.

As we know well, it is impossible to perfectly predict the future, but it is equally impossible to perfectly comprehend the past. As for me, the fact that so much remains unknown is endless fuel for my curiosity and endless inspiration for my art.

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Invitation Exhibition

Artist Kim Jinwoo

May 4-Jul 31, 2020

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Art Lounge

Transportation & Display: Dasom Art

Photographer: Lee Jung-hwan

Proofreading: Elizabeth Gabrielle Kraft

Design: Studio Mot

Sponsor: Samsung ENG

Staff: Park Seong-min, Kang Du-suck, Kim So-yeong, Lee Don-heon, Lee Jun-kyu