Tonight, London welcomes Wook Heo, the acclaimed Korean artist exhibiting @ Mokspace 25 Jan-7 Feb 2012 with Oriental VisArt.
The Canvas that has become an Object -by Kho Chung-Hwan, Art critic.
Externally, the artwork of Heo Wook is rather closer to formal aesthetics than content aesthetics. As noticed, the formal aesthetics is the outcome of the modernism description that seeks genre characteristics and searches artistic characteristics from the other formal elements that enables the sense of Art. In this sense, the Artist’s work is connected to the modernism description as it derives such formalistic restoration. Meanwhile, it tries to transcend the modernism description by harmonising the trends of painting and sculpture, plan and solid and even architectural structure and installation.Likewise, a sort of the comprehensive understanding on modernism description is being discovered as the modernism description is secured while searching a potential for its break through or as it embraces positive and negative aspects of the modernism description simultaneously while seeking a possibility of its transformation and expansion. Maybe, it is the representation that is expressed with physical formation on top of the Habermas’ message that declared the imperfection of the modernism design or the Hegel’s message on ‘the cunning of reason.’ In other words, it is to embrace the positive aspect on reason (Pure form) as well as it negative aspect as a part of the modernism design. The work of Heo, Wook is supported by the dualistic attitude on the modernism description. Distinctive sense of tension is generated from the coexistence of formalistic restoration and expansion and the acquisition of simultaneity through the collected and disoriented unit structure or unit element.
The most distinctive characteristic of Heo Wook can be found from his attitude to deal with a canvas. For him, a canvas is no longer a supporter or a supplementary means to draw a certain image. Through a serious of process to release and reorganize the general idea on a canvas, the sustainable sense of existence for a canvas is returned. In other words, the collection of every single canvas, which is already independent, re-presents a united whole screen. To realise this, the Artist draws several patterns in form through his own unique style and creates a canvas according to the patterns. After creating the frames of a palm-sized circle or semicircle and a form that reminds us of a piece of puzzle, the frames are covered with pieces of fabric one by one to create big and small-sized atypical canvases. Finally, those small canvases are combined like mosaic to construct one grand art piece. On the final screen constructed through such process, the piled big and small frames create dimensional effect (Strictly speaking, it is an embossed sculpture) while the harmony created through the abstract expression of colored sides or patterns (Repeated strip-pattern in general) evokes rhythmical internal echo.
In terms of the Artist approach on a canvas that reorganises the standardised structure and frame of a canvas by releasing those elements, such attempt is connected to <Support- Surface> (Supporting frame – Supporting body) that considers a canvas itself as an independent object. As noticed, <Support- Surface> releases a canvas from the supplementary devices of the representation art (Harmonisation of entire representation that is expressed in realistic, non-realistic, conceptual, and abstract ways) to allow its role as an independent object. Such attitude was even evaluated later as the opening of a new field in the Modern Arts.
In addition, the work of Heo Wook repeatedly piles and lines up a unit element as a module. For such approach, several basic models are selected and eventually, those selected models are reorganised in typical or atypical patterns by being repeatedly piled. It has basic models, but not all of them from the basic ones to repeatedly re-produced ones are the same. Actually, the models that seem identical in size and shape from the external look are manually produced one by one, thus, they have slightly different shapes. Likewise, the work of the Artist that involves repeated piling of the minimum models as a unit element seems to be driven by the recognition on the organic relationship between the glimpse and entire look (Understanding on the world work) of the artwork. But actually, there lies a function called ‘Practical Logic of Repetition (The logic of difference)’ that implies a certain level of difference (Or an aspect that creates difference).
Like the process of an object production, such logic of difference is especially maximised from encouraging the participants’ participation. There are of course exceptions but in general, the work allows participants’ voluntary and arbitrary re-organisation of those models as if playing LEGO through the attached magnets at the rear side of the object. Moreover, it is possible to attach the model on the wall besides the frame that the Artist has divided. Eventually, the initial organisation suggested by the Artist gets re-organised by the participants and intervention of the participants and furthermore, the boundary that is set as a frame loses its meaning. Such fact indicates that the work of the Artist is driven by non-decisive logic rather than decisive one and tenant logic rather than final one, so to speak in present progressive tense. Therefore, it means the inclination of an open structure that allows revision and edition at any time. Moreover, the possibility to expand the scope of artistic expression that endlessly and actually occupies the space is even opened.
Such open structure or non-decisive nature is also supported by the theme <Filling the gap> that has been deepened constantly by the Artist. Like the theme that implies the process of continuous piling and addition of a form or meaning, the work of Heo Wook becomes the ‘present progressive’ not ‘present perfect,’ and the critical means that enables such nature is based on the participation of participants. Therefore, the facts that creates an identity at an arbitrary point or acknowledges participants’ involvement and intervention help us read the merit and capacity of the Artist’s work.
Thus, the work of the Artist illustrates the unique point that is not classified in the existing plane or dimensional perspectives. In other words, the Artist reorganises the entire artwork to be a square frame in general by piling the models produced in the minimum unit. Such reorganised-screen is a plane overall but when seeing it from the sides, it transcends the plane boundary of the screen through the projected artwork above the plane frame work. It is to overcoming both plane and dimensional aspects while not being belonged to any of those. To be specific, it is so-to-speak located on the verge of the boundary between the plane and dimensional aspect. Meanwhile, the understanding on a transformed canvas is discovered on the other hand, and such nature is connected to the attitude that acknowledges self-sustaining existence of a canvas.
Likewise, the work of the Artist is supported by the formatted and patternised trends as the work is based on the repeated re-organization of the minimum unit element. And simultaneously, the trends are restrained and controlled by another chance that disorients the patterns. The mobility to direct and disorient patterns confronts while static change and mobile echo are permeated. Also, the two confronting changes of restoration (the power applied by centripetal force) and expansion (the power applied by centrifugal force) creates distinctive sense of tension as they are soaked into each other.
On the other hands, the work of the Artist stresses formative aspect externally while embracing the nature of the contents. In short, every single grouping model that consists of the entire screen is working as a potential chance to create a relationship. The creation of the entire screen by the gathered models is supported by the process of relationship formation, and such fact implies the process of creating a new relationship through the gathered anonymous subjects. The creation of a new relationship realised by encouraging the participants’ experience seems to be a part of the Artist’s grand design of his work.
