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14

Confusion and Freedom
Suh Jinsuk

It is difficult to find the right word to describe the group of young

generation and their younger siblings' generation. They grew up

Korean artists, who have relentlessly trained themselves inbelieving that the only way to survive in society is to go to either

developing their talents with such determined artistic spirit andan engineering school or a business school. They are thecreative drive . However, there exists one common factor

generation of_people who surreptitiously played computer games-"confusion"-and invested in the most up-to-date cellular phone models. In their

whereby the variety of fields and artists'

tendencies coexist in the artistic world. The concept of "confusion"

memories live the recollections of a peaceful youth that the digitalis, therefore, important to explain their identities.

generation will never understand: warm sunrays in a garden of

From an underdeveloped agricultural country a half-century

their grandparent's country home, the anxiety of placing aago through the process of advanced modernization to today's

stamped envelop into a mailbox, a tin-can lunchbox, the toy robot

digital era, Korea has become a revolutionary country capable of"Taekwon V," and the thrill of sneaking into theaters to watch

radical changes. Although these changes would have taken several

Korean movies. These memories keep the dichotomy of the analog

centuries for some countries, they occurred in little over half aand the digital, tradition and modern, in harmony within theircentury in Korea.

minds.

From a poor agricultural country suffering from economical

Such "confusion" in their cultural identity is a keyword inhardships in farms termed '.'The Barley Hump," Korea had become

understanding the artistic world of these young Korean artists.

an advanced industrial country overnight during the 1950s. This

They are comfortable with digital culture and work smoothly withphenomenon is often referred to as "the Miracle of the Han River."all sorts of digitalized devices such as computers; however, their

Today, revolutionary changes in the present digital era affect our

spiritual roots lie in analogical sensitivity. Their attempts tolives.

digitally revive the beauty of Korean tradition and their obsessions

Some Koreans experienced three periodical changes in theirwith the old and weathered kitsch materials represent their unique

lifetime : the agricultural period, the modern era, and the digital

cultural sensitivities. The mixed cultural sensitivities of the analog

revolution. In other words, a child who was born into a farming

and the digital allow them to experience a variety of artistic

family went to college with the money that his or her father had

representations.Their expressional domain is limitless and leaps

earned from raising cows. After graduating from college, thethrough the confines of space and time. Moreover, they capture

person worked hard as an employee before retiring, but only to.

the marriage of different artistic expressions naturally based onface yet another new periodical change, the digital era. Examples

their inclusive cultural sensitivity. However, such advanta·ge

of experiencing su'ch radical changes in one's lifetime are probably

sometimes works against insignificant issues, as they may not be

hard to find anywhere else but in Korea, leaving Korea as the most

examined in depth.

vigorous furnace of changes.
Our fathers' generation has successfully transformed the

In fact, "hybrids," such as mutations, reforms, and revolutionarychanges, are a result of such infinite imaginations for artists. Whencountry into a modern, industrial state and has become leaders ofan era and society that the artists live in is that revolutionary andthe rapidly developing Korea. Nevertheless, they are now at theendlessly changing then it is· perhaps unnatural to imagine theironset of the digital era in a race for the survival of the fittest.

work styles to be coherent and consistent to one another.

People who are born after 1.980 are categorized as "the typical

We have passed the material period and are now living in thedigital generation" where they feel most relaxed and stable in front

era of de-materialization. In this de-materialization era, the artistsof a computer. Baptized by the digital culture, they think digitallycommunicate directly with the mass through a radical medium _and actively exchange ideas within their own cultural andsuch as the Internet. Unlike art in the past, where only selected

linguistic spaces.
The problem lies in the generation in-between, the you·ng
Korean group who are in their late-twenties and thirties. Thisso-called "sandwiched" generation stands on the borderline ofdifferences in values and.cultures between their fathers'

nobility and the dilettantes could enjoy, art in its present state hascreated a fast and new network system that the mass chooses
directly and develops to an unbelievable speed .
Young Korean artists are actively involved in thiscommunicational method of the digital era; although to them15technology is not an essence but only a method of expression. The
artists who are always obsessed with new things and makeadventurous decisions passionately welcome the advancement oftechnology and attempt to be the first ones to experiment with it.
Nonetheless, the ultimate expression that they want to represent
through the use oftechnolo 'gy is the fundamental beauty andnostalgia of their fathers' generation that they have lost long ago.
The works that is included in this exhibition stands on an
extensional line of such beauty and nostalgia. Though they workwith new and radical digital methods, the subjects that they wantto present are related to things that are essential andunchangeable.
With the birth of the super-expressional method called"digitalization," the expression al freedom of the young artists isabout to take a flight towards the infinite. They have gained thefreedom to express "above what one can imagine," as said in amovie advertisement. As moviemaking utilizes a computer graphic
device to portray a virtual reality on a screen without restraint,
media to express creativity in the domains of art are becoming
more versatile and three-dimensional. And such trend is easilyspotted in the installation works shown in the exhibition. Throughthe development of technology, we are now rewarded with new
methods of artistic and expression al representations. However,
the message that these artists are delivering through changes insuch diverse forms convey their generation's common tendencies.
A trace captured carefully in the an alog method in the shell of evercolorful digital method. Faint nostalgia toward a world that isheavier , more serious, and more fundamental.
Perhaps the reason that we pay attention to their works is
because they will never let go of the fundamental and basic
elements. Such elements are probably the only humar:ie entities _that will sustain through any revolutionary changes.
It is important to understand that these young Korean artists
interpret the essential subject matters in a new and different way.
The difference between these artists from the artists of the morematured group and the younger group from the digital era lies inthis "unique marriage" of their spirits. Hence, they are the cultural

bridgeand the brilliant substitute that connect and harmonize
conflicts created among the different generations .
[translated by EmmaSon]

Suh Jinsuk [President , alternative space "Loop," Korea]

16