About a month ago, we took a look at Korea′s first video artist Park Hyun-ki and today
our Yim Yoonhee joins us again with an indepth look at the artist, and the inspiration behind
his works. Paik Nam-june is usually associated with early
video art in Korea, but in fact, Korea′s first video artist is Park Hyun-ki.
Many curators, and artists in the field have said it′s a shame that more people are not
familiar with Park Hyun-ki′s works. He unfortunately passed at a very early age,
but his massive collection of over 20,000 works were archived and recently put on display
at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Take a look. Where exactly does chaos meet order? The East
meet the West? Korea′s first video artist Park Hyun-ki
explored where the moving meets the still,... where seemingly polar opposites clash, but
also where they coexist. Video art was a new artistic medium, not just
for Kim but also for the world. And for Park, media became just a tool, a
tool for an artist bent on finding the place where traditions of Korea could harmonize
with the new Western world and where nature coincides with humanity.
"These artworks are on the foundation of nature, but also of Korean traditions. He wanted to
find harmony with Western formal language in Korea. Things like rocks, trees and rivers,
they can be found around the world, anywhere you go, and naturally for Park they became
art that harmonizes with humanity." And nature immediately became his focus, necessary
to begin a piece,... he would have to go looking for his materials in the great outdoors.
The rocks gathered from nature would lead Park to works, like his video stone tower,
a work that would become key pieces to the development of his career.
The rocks, taken from Mother Earth, surround cold, glass screens that project the same
image as you would expect to see in nature. Park blurs the line between reality and illusion
in his low tech, unnaturally natural work. The tower makes use of one of Park′s key
techniques,... the use of still shots, on a medium you would expect to see otherwise,
and this unique approach garnered attention worldwide.
But his inspiration from nature goes much deeper than the materials he used.
Park found a continuous cycle in life, and he conveyed that flow through his video art,...
each screen capturing another step in this circuit.
He found this flowing, connected system in the cosmos and the world, but also in his
own two hands.
"For Park, one of the important images is the hand. The hand has five fingers, but it
also holds the five senses, the five elements and even the universe. The hand is close to
you, it′s something you use and see everyday, so for Park, it was a big part of his search
to find harmony in our world." Park continually strove to think of ways of
preserving the traditions of Korea while still adapting to a rapidly Western and modern world.
He was always looking for a unique angle
on
Ko