Artistic Statement I

Yong S. Lee
Prof. Sang K. Kim

All people have an instinct to show them to others. In order to do that, some people write poems, some people draw pictures and some people photograph. As I’m a graphic designer, I have strived to show me to others with symbolic and graphic elements. Most of my works are conceptual, because I had worked at an advertisement company. I tend to stay away from abstract paintings which seem to hide conspiracies in them. This is because art must be communicated with an audience, so they can interact physically or mentally with it.

Most of the arts have lost its function. Instead, they have tried to oppress our mind so that we need to feel sorry unless we can find any artistic features, as Baudrillard, J said in his book, The Conspiracy of Art.

This interaction can be compared to controlling the height of the surface of water. Advertisement approaches this matter very carefully. This is because revealing too much of something can make consumers’ interests go down the hill, making them less curious. Contrary to this, concealing too much can make consumers angry or indifferent. In the advertising field, we are always deeply considering that matter. My project was done with it. I intend people to spontaneously find other meanings that I hid in my work, expecting them to go beyond simple contemplation about it.

Obstacle (digital printing, 25 by 25 inches)

Michael Moore is one of the most representative artists, who reflects his political opinions onto his works, such as Fahrenheit 911. His works always have provoked big social sensations, and led public opinion. This point makes his work look so practical. I have ever respected his political influence and power. I am also interested in political issues. And I have wanted to be one who is an important part of a public opinion by my artworks.
With this desire, what I intended to make was about the President of Korea, Muhyun Noh. I’m angry with the present situation that the opposition party, Hannara Party, conservative journals, such as Chosun, Jungang, and Donga and other people who are grasping hegemony that originated from the military regime are disturbing gradual revolutions that the president is propelling. The president has proposed a lot of revolutionary laws against various corruptions, but all the members of Hannara Party have made them cripple by boycotting Congress without any rational reason, and they are still doing that. In addition, several major journals are misleading the public opinion, standing on the extreme conservation side and distorting the real situation by exaggerating only a sensational part. Therefore, our president now is stuck in the crippled status. I feel rage with the situation and my work is a way of appealing my anger.

What has inspired me is works of Chuck Close. On a very big canvas, he would paint someone’s face with rectangular graphic elements. Therefore, if you look at his work closely, you would see it as a collection of innumerous graphic elements, but if you see it at a distance, you eventually can see it as someone’s portray. I have thought this method is one of the strongest ways to attract audiences’ attentions. I intended to borrow his way, but focusing on going to a different style to him. The one of the various ways is, unlike his organic elements, to make my work look more linear or geometric as I’m a graphic designer. The maze symbolizes obstacles to Noh which make his authority faint. If you look at it closely, you only see a graphic pattern and if you see it from far away, you can realize the graphic pattern is shown as Noh’s face.












Obstacle (digital printing, 25 by 25 inches)