- Artist Statement
Notes for a Journey from the urban to the rural (2013)
Too fast to catch it
Have you felt about the speed of something huge changing? If so, how did you feel about it? In general, it is hard to sense the movement of something massive or of something changing slowly because the movement is difficult for us to detect. But, if we find a clue to trace its movement, the invisible will reveal its true nature to us as the visible.
To me, the slow moving massive object was a city, Seoul, the capital of South Korea, where I spent almost my entire life before coming to Bloomington. And the clue to this movement came to me through the experience of my journey from Seoul to Bloomington. My first impression was that everything in Bloomington had been halted like a hibernating animal compared to the things in Seoul. It was much like standing on the ground after stepping off of a roller coaster. I could see the speed of the space where I had lived like a goldfish looking from inside its fishbowl to the outside.
I was in there, not at a distance. So, I could not see it for what it was. However, I remember every moment that I had sensed in the city in my body. Here in Bloomington I can observe my memories of Seoul there. Looking back, it happened as quickly as a bullet penetrating the air through in the blink of an eye. I can trace back how the phenomenon of what had occurred in that place came about from. My assumption is that arose from a desire to be better than others.
A desire to be one and only
In my works, buildings simply appear or soar upward endlessly into the sky. The relationship among buildings is what I had experienced in my life or what had occurred in South Korea. I thought the buildings are byproducts of the desire that had made their development possible. After the Korean War, everything was demolished. Everyone was desperate because they had nothing by to which survive. Everyone was in the same situation. At the same time, we took over some heritages of classification from the past such as seniority expressions in Korea and Confucian. We are equal, but I’d like to be exclusive to be respected. I’d like to be better that other. These conflicting thoughts cause the present of South Korea. As a result, people succeed to live better than the past. But in most of people’s mind, except for only one who is better than others, the desire to be better is not accomplished. They failed to realize their dreams in their perception. They are still thirsty and the festival is over. Everything in the world is subject to cause and effect. Sow seeds and gather grains. I’d like to know after the growth. What is the future? What do we need?
Time to Change
When I work on this theme, the idea is always related to sky. I wonder the meaning of sky in my works. The relationship of building and sky; a tension between being full and being empty.
Hyejin Kang 