Chiara Aluigi in Conversation with Joonhong Min

How does the perception that people have of their current reality alter when they encounter objects linked to their past? Joonhong Min, a Korean artist based in London, attempts to answer such questions through his work realised in various mediums such as drawings, installations and videos. Chiara Aluigi got in touch with the artist after seeing his works exhibited at the Korean Cultural Centre UK, London, to learn more about the artist’s process.

CA: An artist must certainly have a unique sensibility for coming up with such intriguing enigmas. In which ways do your artworks address the aforementioned issue and what are your artistic techniques?

JM: I think ‘The Debris from The Future Past (2019)’ and ‘The Past is not done with you (2019)’, which I submitted to my latest exhibition, ‘Rendered Reality,’ are addressing such a question.

Figure 1: The Debris from The Future Past, 143(w)cm x 105(h)cm x 47(d)cm, Pen Drawing on Found Objects, 2020

Figure 2: The Debris from The Future Past, 503(w)cm x 172(h)cm x 447(d)cm, Pen Drawing on Found Objects, 2019

JM: I collect daily life waste objects left on the streets. I disassemble the debris left or thrown away and make them lose their original forms and functions. I reassemble these particles, into new objects coated with my pen drawings and the wastepaper. The repetitive pen drawing is the visualisation of the impression I get from the city. Unlike pencil, which portrays numerous levels of thickness or painting that provides an infinitive spectrum of colours, ink pen fills the surface evenly with a monochromatic consistency that is particular to the medium. Yet the monotony is disturbed by the vivid colours of the loosely-shredded packaging paper, on which printed images shed the alluring colours of a consumerist city – the colours of the city that I attempt to express. The finished output of refined pen drawings and solid pieces arranged in installations is my personal response to the virtual space.

Fragmented thoughts about life in the city are also at the centre of my artwork. The conflicts and questions that arise from the different societies I belonged to and from the relationships I had with others do not fade as temporary emotions or pieces of memory. They become the starting point for the formation of a critical stance towards the shadow of contemporary society by raising questions about my daily struggles in a capitalist society. This is followed by reflection on my daily routine in the city. I then convert what came to me as unfamiliar or uncomfortable into art. I collect, edit and construct a new narrative with the ‘uncomfortable wreckage’. This narrative is then presented through a series of short clips, as one of pasts, as in ‘The Past is not done with you (2019)’.

CA: Does your Korean origin influence your artistic attitude in any way?

JM: I think I can say 'yes,' relatively. I do not consider my artistic attitude as a direct expression of Korean traditional culture and history. There are also many Korean artists who use Korean traditional beauty and craft techniques already. In my case, I think my origin can rather be linked to contemporary Korean society or modern history.

More specifically, from the period starting in the 1970s, in which Korea has started its rapid economic growth, and the sights, objects and human characters found in the space form my origin. The reckless consumerism, materialism and human alienation that inspire me can be found not only in Seoul, the city where I was born, but also in every urban space I have lived in before: London, Milan and New York.

‘Thank you for sharing (2020)’, now exhibited at ‘Rendered Reality’, is a work that is deeply linked to my origin. This is a video work that displays an intimate conversation between my mother and I. Presented as the storyteller, my mother speaks of the rather painful experiences as a female growing up within a heavily patriarchal, capitalist ordered society. As she talks about her memories, the viewers are invited into the extremely intimate setting of my mother’s past. My mother's life is not just the one of many women in South Korea especially; this experience can be shared by every woman anywhere else on the globe. And, by highlighting my mother's past intensively, I thought I could voice the perspective of many women, or many individuals, who had to be sacrificed under the guise of economic development in capitalism those days. And again, it relates to the origin of the society in which I grew up.

Figure 3: Thank you for sharing, single channel video, 26m 50s, 2019

CA: Your artistic career started in Seoul. In 2016, you had a solo exhibition in Milan and now you have settled in London. Could you tell us about your experience in the three cities? Which were the shows that are especially dear to you and why? Have you noticed any differences in the audience’s reaction?

JM: Exhibiting in three different cities was a very good experience and I had the chance to learn a lot. It's hard to say that one city was especially dear to me. However, I think I can find different elements in every city’s audience.

The audience I have met in Korea always asks me for the ‘answer’ when experiencing my exhibitions. The intentions behind the works, specific themes, and detailed reasons of my work are always important to them. For me, who has a motto that "art pursues questions rather than answers," it is often difficult to explain all these questions. Also, there are those who give up appreciation of the work or simply find my exhibition difficult when the answers they would like to hear and my intentions do not correspond.

The audience I met in Milan appreciated and enjoyed my exhibition without any prejudice. They recognize themes and intentions in my art works without asking me for the “right way” of reading them. They talked to me as an artist, sharing the points of appreciation they have encountered in my art works.

The audience I met in London is not much different from those in Milan. They tell me honestly what they feel through my artworks. Another interesting thing is that they are willing to share art history knowledge and information with other artists they know. I can get a lot of references during the conversation with them.

However, sometimes there are audiences who talk about my artworks in conjunction with the traditional Korean culture and art because it is the only one they know. Most of the images of Korea or Asia they have are traditional. It is difficult to communicate with audiences who try to interpret my works with a pre-established framework of perspective.

Figure 4: The Past is not done with you, 110.5(w)cm x 60(h)cm x 2.5(d)cm, Pen Drawing on Found Objects, 2020

Figure 5: The Past is not done with you, 250(w)cm x 212(h)cm x 92(d)cm, Pen Drawing on Found Objects and Monitor, 2019 (Thanks to The NARS Foundation Residency Program, New York)

CA: Could you tell us about your experience working in artist residencies? In which ones have you been working, which ones did you enjoy the most? Could you share some highlights of your experience there?

JM: The NARS Foundation Artist in Residence in New York is the last art residency I took part in. From October to December 2019, I worked at the residency and held a group exhibition with 12 artists from Scotland, the United States, Slovakia, Denmark and Sweden. Meeting artists of various nationalities and getting to know their work, while coordinating group exhibitions together with them, was a meaningful and valuable experience.

Furthermore, the opportunities that only an art hub like New York city has helped me to proceed with my artistic practice. It was impossible to see all of the countless galleries, art institutions and museums in the city within three months, but I went to several art galleries whenever I had time. Seeing a number of works of art that I have only seen in art history in real life and visiting exhibitions of the most famous artists of my time has been very helpful for my future exhibitions and works.

CA: The Korean Cultural Centre UK was until very recently hosting the exhibition Rendered Reality, a project in which you take part in collaboration with the artist Suh Shinuk. Unfortunately, the exhibition had to be “put on pause” due to the current coronavirus situation. Could you tell us a bit more about this recent show of yours?

JM: Cha Jae-min, the curator of the Korean Cultural Centre UK, organised this exhibition with the intention of introducing young Korean artists’ works to a British audience. Thankfully, the curator showed a great interest in the works by Shinuk and me, and offered us a duo exhibition.

At first, I wondered if there could actually be a connection between Shinuk and my work. His work interestingly expresses criticism of institutions, discipline and ideas prevalent in modern society through kinetic art, digital drawing, and video. Shinuk and I agree on the fact that the society we live in is having a huge and at times devastating impact on humanity. Later, it was very easy for us to organise the exhibition. Shinuk and I were close friends already and alumni of the UCL SLADE School of Fine Art in London. We easily adapted to each other's works and smoothly designed our exhibition format in the exhibition space of the Korean Cultural Centre UK.

Also, curator Cha Jae-min and coordinator Kim So-hyun from the Korean Cultural Centre UK exhibition team accurately identified the common attributes of Shinuk’s and my artworks. They defined the properties of the reality we live in as my common point with Shinuk and chose ‘Rendered Reality’ as the exhibition’s title.

The Korean Cultural Centre UK has an interior that is a little different from more conventional art institutions and galleries: the exhibit space is divided into windows and corridors and sections. This kind of setting may be challenging, however, the curator team, Shinuk and I were able to curate this exhibition space relatively easily, because our works have characteristics that can be transformed according to the site-specific situations, and both of us like to redecorate the exhibition space that we did not expect.

CA: Mentioning the difficult times we are going through at the moment... Do you have any thoughts on how contemporary artists should respond to this situation? As an artist, how are you spending this time in self-isolation and what are you going to do first once this dystopian circumstance will come to an end?

JM: I think basically, an artist has the role of a recorder who observes the times he belongs to, and records those times, in his own way of expression. This is certainly a difficult time. I think artists should freely express their feelings and impressions about this period.

Regarding how I am spending my time during the quarantine... I am currently working on a new project related to this Pandemic situation. In the context of worldwide lockdown caused by the Corona pandemic, we receive almost all the news, information and entertainment via the Internet. And now, the Internet, which was simply a medium for news and information, replaces our reality, leading us to live in a completely virtual world. In a world populated by fake news and commercial advertising, the boundary between truth and fiction is distorted.

In the piece I am currently working on, I express my impression of this current situation through a moving image that combines pictures and drawings of real cities with random 3D and commercial video clips extracted from video channels and streaming services.

A visual fabric of images of figurative and abstract subjects is a visual embodiment of our present world dotted with uncertainty, and of my anxiety of living in it.

And, I'm sorry, but my answer to the question about what to do first when this is over is simple. I will go to my studio and work like crazy. What else?

Figure 6: Artist Joonhong Min

Thank you Joonhong Min.

Chiara Aluigi,

Contributor, MADE IN BED

Let’s follow and support this great artist. More about the artist can be found below:

http://www.minjoonhong.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SANTBmMADbE&t=49s

Photo Credit: Installation view and Opening reception, Rendered Reality (2020),

Courtesy the artist and Korean Cultural Centre UK. Photography by Dan Weill