Structure of Shadow
2007
Dimensions: metal structure: 90”H x 60”W x 60”D
Materials: silicon, wire, steel, light bulb, motor, sensor
Project Venues:
2012 West Collection, Oak PA
2011 The Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia PA
2010 Real Art Ways, Hartford CT
2010 Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh PA
2010 Hunter College Time Square Gallery, New York NY
2009 Cheongju International Biennale, Cheonju Korea
Collection:
West Collection, Oaks PA
As soon as I entered the military in Korea, my superiors tried to brainwash all the new soldiers in regards to who our enemy is, why we have to obey them and so on. This training methodology and military law were very well structured and very effectively organized to control new troops. I was reading Michael Foucult’s “Discipline and Punish” in the military and this book is all about how Western governments have historically developed all kinds of punishments and penalties to control citizens in a very intellectual way. I could analyze the military system better through actually experiencing it. In the end, I felt that humans are weak and fragile, spiritless animals under certain rule, certain harsh conditions.
This work is an installation piece in which I present a mix of male and female toy-like rubber figures hung with strings marching in one direction, one after another. Hanging like puppets, the figures portray the idea of a group as opposed to an individual. A simple light and shadow trick is key in this work and becomes a metaphor for invisible power or tricks of politics in our society. The work is interactive: when a viewer approaches, a motion sensor shakes the light bulb so that the crowd's shadow moves around the space. The viewer's engagement plays a fundamental role in completing the work.
|
