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Thinking beyond the border: By Chang Dong-kwang, Art critic & Independent Curator "Life is a lack of enjoyment due to the impossibility of attaining a truly desired object. In addition, life is a lack of to be enjoyed in that jouissance, which is the state of orgasmic rapture, means intrinsically self-shattering, disruptive of the subject. In this state, the subject as well as the object always remains lacking" - Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus (Mille Plateaux), Translated by Kim Jae-in, Saemulgyeol, 2001, p.296 1. The Nomadic Exploration of "Moving" Last year Hyuk Kwon took part in the artist-in-residence program of the Anderson Center in Minnesota, USA. While staying there, Hyuk Kwon made a 'glittering circle' and with it she set out on a journey. The circle, which variably gleams with lights, is referred to as so-called shinning object. Hyuk Kwon makes a circle shape by cutting out hexahedrons from the funky film and plastering them onto the original plate. She notices that this film like the surface of mother-of-pearl or CD-Rom brings about ever-changing illusions by the angles of lights. This matter of illusions is closely associated with the problem of three-dimensional representation by a two-dimensional painting. Under the title of "Moving Project", Hyuk Kwon with this circle plate made a tour of the seven cities of the five countries. She left Minnesota, traveled to Minneapolis and New York in the United States, Vienna and Graz in Austria, Praha in Czech, Venice in Italia, and finally arrived in Seoul. This "Moving Project" was not to be merely site-specific but to experiment with a performance in which the viewer could participate. The spectator requested to attend playfully joined this sudden, accidental and unpredictable event. This experimental performance, associating one of Interactive Art, is to record in sequential photographs an anonymous viewer standing with a luminous, circle-shaped object. This is not simply a record to prove any existence but to explore philosophical issues on 'the moving' in a phenomenological manner. The matter of moving Hyuk Kwon intended to raise here is closely related to the problem of site specificity, when she traveled many countries, experienced different cultures, various urban environments and documented them in photography. In other respect, however, her main concern was to capture the flow of changes in an artistic manner, as if seen in her luminescent object incessantly generating ever-changing images. Moving beyond merely containing such performance in photography and video, Kwon Hyuk stayed one step ahead in her artistic endeavors. She handed out the questionnaires about 'temptation' to the viewers of various races and nationalities and let them manifest their own ideas on it. She used their written answers for her work of art, combining them with man and animal icons represented in a form of pictogram. The response they had showed was so diverse and demonstrated their desires prohibited and unattainable in a real world. Hyuk Kwon's work expressing them with an emancipated imagination is actually another reflection of our real world lying in an oppressive structure. It seems quite natural that fragments of her imagination and dream are converted into the formative elements of her work, triggering new aspects of changes. 2. 'Intersection', 'Conceal and Reveal', 'symptom' and 'Moving project' The art world of Hyuk Kwon since her return to Korea after completing a graduate course at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in the USA provides a clue to grasp the entire frame of this exhibition. It is out of question that Kwon Hyuk's work has its origin in fiber art. In terms of technique her pieces are relying primarily on fiber art. Hyuk Kwon created her own peculiar stitching technique by the use of vinyl, later canvas cloth and recently Korean fabric nobang(silk organza) for its main material. By covering the canvas with white nobang fabric, which appears to be transparency, she rendered dual imagery. The nobang, especially going beyond its notion as a fabric, functions as an illusionary border and illusion of images. This fabric, recently made from synthetic fiber, is very sheer and often used as the lining material of garments and for interior as well. This nobang fabric, as does hanji(traditional Korean paper), has a role as a medium facilitating mutual exchanges between the inside and outside. As if hanji is the material nature-friendly and typical of the Korean sensibility, the nobang has traditionally demonstrated the archetypal beauty of Korea. Mainly used for summer clothing, this fabric with its diaphanous quality makes those in it look seductive. The eroticism it implies, however, is not blatant but metaphorical. In this context, Kwon's attempt to cover the imagery on a canvas with diaphanous nobang fabric is partly associated with a lack of enjoyment, as Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari stated. Hyuk Kwon seems to think of techniques and media of fiber art as methodologically efficient in achieving her notion of form. Going beyond the horizon of traditional fiber art, she enters the domain of contemporary art. An array of exhibitions Hyuk Kwon had since her study in the United States such as 'Intersection' (Dukwon Gallery, 1998), 'Conceal and Reveal'(Sagan Gallery 2002), 'Symptom' (Um Gallery 2003), 'Thread'(2004 Kingswoodlower Gallery in USA) and others had a conceptual basis. Mostly two-dimensional and basically conceptual, the works displayed at these exhibitions portray in an iconographical manner the human hands, face, objects and animals. These pieces evoke associations by placing a geometrical area of color in juxtaposition with the English words. The main symbols Hyuk Kwon adopts to represent the conception of art dwell in such English words like 'MOVE' and 'GO'. These letters of course refer to 'moving' and the matter of this 'moving' is addressed in the same context. The huge-scale work "Thinking of Fantasy" installed on the wall of Jin Art Gallery at the heyri Art Valley in 2004 especially featured a floating area of color and ambiguous moving of life. The subject in a disruptive state has a craving for the ideal, which is always impossible to attain. For Hyuk Kwon, these moving forms deprived of the subject are reflected as the shadow of their desires. Her "Moving Project" is an attempt of artistic thinking place incorporate a variety of layers into a work of art or a sole place. 3. Art on the Border Dreaming of a Hybrid Domain Hyuk Kwon's works exhibited are largely categorized into three types. Included in one of them are both photographic and video works sequentially taken from the scenes of anonymous performers who are standing with a circle-shaped luminous object. They were all performed as a part of the nomadic program entitled "Moving Project". The second is the type encompassing the paintings reminiscent of works of graphic designs, in which men and animals represented in a form of pictogram are placed in juxtaposition with geometrical figures in fluorescent, complex colors. The men and animals roaming around the city are not confined in any boundaries or spheres. Kwon Hyuk's canvas painted in acrylics and then covered with nobang fabric is a manifestation of her thoughts on society and group. In this type of work, the iconic images of men and animals entangled with one another are endlessly floating like the fragments of an organism. They cause confusion in our eyes as if larvae are in the world of chaos, deviating from any established rules. In this respect, Kwon Hyuk's artistic act remains sufficient if she floats together with larva-like figures, man and animal shapes. In spite of tremendously showy colors, these works seem to be in a pessimistic atmosphere. In this context, this kind of her pieces is reminded of one of the best known koans of Buddhism "Form is emptiness and the very emptiness is form.". In other words, form is vanity and the vanity of form is again in the cycle of reincarnation. The movement Kwon Hyuk intended to express is blended with Rene Descartes's famous supposition "I think therefore I am.". The third type includes the works realistically portraying in a stitching technique those who go the way and float in the air. The persons who are stitched on a monochrome background appear to present their profiles or backsides to the viewer. Their forms, disregarding perspective and background, are placed on a changing area of color. They seem to be in a gravity-free state, wandering around the world to seek an endless territory. This third type of works, differently from the previous pieces, alludes to her individual thinking and inner self in a resolute, clear tone. These artworks embody the problem of movement in extremely dazzling colors. The matter of moving Hyuk Kwon explores is presented in a hybrid blend of various styles of works. Such tendency, which seems there is no consistency, indicates Hyuk Kwon's art remains indeterminate and multi-layered, based on the aesthetics of Postmodernism. With philosophical thoughts on 'moving' flowing consistently in all types of her works, Kwon Hyuk strives tirelessly to overcome conventional stereotypes, one can look the sight of artist Hyuk Kwon standing on a new border. Through an unrestricted blend of various art genres such as fiber art, painting, installation and video, Hyuk Kwon blazes a trail in a new domain of art. In her nomadic journey to pursue her ontological reflection, I am listening of the fresh rhythmical form performed by the artist standing on the border.
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