Towards the Age of Involvement
The Korean word 'sound' means sledding in Japanese. For me, who was born, grew up in Korea, studied, and produced artworks in Japan, the word 'so-ri' reminds me of a scene of a sled running through the snow in a distance on a dim morning. I think about how I can feel the sound of the exhibition hall through the seven-hour time difference between Poland and Korea and Japan with my whole body.
The Polish Pavilion's exhibition Katastematic Pleasures is an exhibition of Poland in Gwangju, which has a modern history like a war. I listen even more carefully to the ongoing exhibition, Poland's exhibition, which has gone through a long history of war, carries a message for the audience living in a fatigued society. What should we think of the exhibition as we live in an era of anxiety in which war and polarization intensify, while experiencing advances and abundance in technology.
I would like to say that the audience who dare enter the exhibition hall is already involved in the work and exhibition. Art is constantly connected to other genres, including society and science. Bruno Latour says that the various perspectives on science through field research lead society to a more active direction. Donna Haraway says that we can make ourselves by actively weaving our own perspectives and practices. When appreciating a work of art, it shows the possibility that the work can become a richer and more alive message when it includes not only the aesthetic context but also the various experiences of other genres and audiences. This audience appreciation brings the message of the work to an unexpected place when the artist creates a work.
If you read the English acronym N/A, which means Not Applicable, in Korean – if you read the slash symbol transparently – it becomes 'I'. Even when an individual is invisible or disrespectful, if you look at it from a different perspective, it seems that you exist within it. A lot of reflections on yourself, a lot of 'I' can be found in your work. Various 'I's appear in the exhibition. From Przemysław Jasielski's memory and those who are remembered to those who are remembered to those who are remembered, those who are observed and those who are observed in the IP Group, those who are the creator and consumers of Alicja Klich, those who are discriminated against by Madina Mahomedova, to those who are listening to the WRO Art Center… In it, I was reminded of various parties, including myself, in large part.
Embeded gallery style
display gallery as slider
Actively connect the story in your work to your own situation. Actively involve yourself in an 'experience' that spans from basic elements, such as the brightness of a material or space, to more complex elements, such as the form or message in which the work exists. Likely or dislike separation is also a way of involvement. We live in a society where algorithms progress in choosing only what we want to hear and see. The polarization of society actually creates a brutal reality. We cannot fully go through everything that happens in the world, but we can respect it with imagination, speculation, and empathy. That is true of events in history, but also what happens now.
The experience of being involved in a work creates a small crack in everyday life like a small stone in a shoe. The experience of being involved in a tired world can be a margin for thinking, and the work can be expanded and individual growth can be achieved at the same time. I believe that the loose solidarity of involvement will be a sympathy for the producer who created questions about society in the form of works and a support for the courage to continue to think about the world and us living in it. It replaces the text posted on the exhibition with a short letter to the audience. I hope it will become a small 'sound' in your heart when you appreciate it.
Written by Hyunjung PARK (Hokkaido University, artist), 2024