Fragments of news stories, memories inspire artist’s exhibit
Pictured above are five out of seven pictures in the series “Nuclear”(2013) by young artist Insane Park. In this work, the memory of the news about a North Korean nuclear test is overlapped with the familiar logo of the Hollywood movie production company, Columbia Pictures. “No matter how complicated or serious things or events are, they tend to be left in our brains only as fragments of images,” the artist said. Provided by Arario Gallery
The first shows the horizon set against a sea while the next depicts a bomb falling from the sky. The following pictures portray a huge reddish cloud with flashing beams of light surging from the skyline. The final image shows a woman carrying a torch, which is the extremely familiar logo of U.S. movie production company Columbia Pictures.
This incongruous combination, titled “Nuclear,” is part of young artist Insane Park’s solo show “Director’s Cut.”
“One day, I listened to the news about North Korea’s nuclear test all day long,” the 34-year-old artist told the Korea JoongAng Daily. “That night, I happened to watch a movie. At the moment I saw the film production company’s logo at the start of the movie, it reminded me of a nuclear explosion. The images overlapped, so I came to make this work.”
“It doesn’t have a certain political message,” he continued. “I wanted to say that no matter how complicated or serious things or events are, they tend to be left in our brains only as fragments of images, and the images are often mixed and overlapped.”
On the wall beside “Nuclear” is a sign that reads “Ideology is gone. Image is left” when flipped horizontally, like a mirror image.
In a small room in the gallery’s corner is a montage of various movie scenes compiled by Park. On the second floor are random images the artist found from the Internet and distorted with Photoshop to create a blurry effect. The artist paired these with the same images he distorted in analogue ways. For example, a picture transformed with Photoshop’s “Glass” effect is paired with the same image covered in glass.
“At first, I was deeply interested in the proposition that mass media distort information and images, but I came to think the proposition is too simple,” said Park. “We are living in a floods of images and they are also mixed and distorted in our brains. My works are related with that.”
By moon so-young [symoon@joongang.co.kr]
Admission is free. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and is closed on Mondays. Go to Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit No. 2, and walk for 10 minutes. For more information, call (02) 541-5701 or visit www.arariogallery.com.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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