Yeowoon Kim works with mobile art, presenting a new diagram of an image unrestrained from the conventional artificial control, alluding to imperfection whilst symbolically suggesting a pixel, the minimum unit of an image, through reinterpretation.
A: How would you describe the practice behind your artwork, in terms of mobile expression?
YK: In art history, many attempts to be free from the canvas have mostly gravitated to a specific type of form. I utilise images that respond to subtle movements of audiences such as a breath or movements, allowing work to be freely moving. To do so, any planned movement powered by electricity should be prohibited. The images intertwined with the net, within the mobiles, are reminiscent of images interlaced with the nerve network. Each work contains time prior to or following a certain moment (for example from blooming to withering) and the rotating mobiles come into sight one by one with time intervals.
A: How do you think that the works allude to a sense of the digital landscape in terms of pixels and disseminated information?
YK: In each work, elements of an image have been reinterpreted as a replaceable square unit, but I suggest that there is no pixel that is exactly the same to everyone. According to this conventional idea, each of the pieces attached to the work ought to be pixels, but I denote that the entire work is a pixel and the smallest unit of an image. Based on one’s memory and experience, each person will relate to different parts of the composition, therefore universality is something that cannot be reached. Much like different computer screens engaging with a singular unit of information, so to do humans recognise parts of a puzzle piece.
A: Is there a sense of deconstruction in the pieces in terms of taking an image to its minimal unit of understanding?
YK: I think that an image comes before a concept. Thus, I like to visually express the pure uncontaminated image (pixel), disintegrating it from representational thought.
A: What do you think that it’s important to constantly look for innovation and new methods of creating art?
YK: To change the way we see the world – change the paradigm – that is what artists should do.
A: What do you think is the relationship between form and content?
YK: I think that a form addresses the context of work. This was proven by Masters in the past, such as Cezanne, Picasso and Duchamp. An artist’s mind can be read through the form.
A: What are you trying to evoke emotionally or conceptually within the viewer?
YK: Defining the world begins with defining elemental components. What else would we expect to see other than a mechanical world, where a unit of an image is modularly defined? I hope that my work can change the way we perceive landscapes around us, and the data that we ingest everyday.
A: What are you planning for your next piece?
YK: Currently, I am creating works which utilise individual pixels, but I would like to do work that shows the relationship amongst multiple pixels, with more movements added to them.
Kim’s work is on display at Artifact, New York, until 7 May.
Credits:
1. Courtesy of the artist.
