“Cat pictures used to be consumed as “innocent and cute” in the digital world, but it implies a somewhat strange vibe now, doesn’t that seem suspicious?”
Growing up in Seoul during a period of rapid transition from analog to digital technology must have had a profound impact on your art. Could you discuss how this influence has shaped your approach to integrating digital and analog aspects into your work?
I am from the 90’s, the middle man of analog and digital. At the time when the digital media was growing, there was an indefinite fantasy about it but now I rather want to keep the value of the analog world, because eventually the actual senses are what’s important. However, that doesn’t mean I deny the growth of the digital world, I’m just trying to take precaution in order to digest them well. I think that’s the reason for the outcome of my work being not all cute and not all weird, but the middle-man-like aura. It is an output of an ironic concern, ‘Could we, the humans, follow the speed of these accelerating advancement and saturation of digital media?’ Cat pictures used to be consumed as “innocent and cute” in the digital world, but it implies a somewhat strange vibe now, doesn’t that seem suspicious?
Considering the ever-expanding influence of digital media on our daily lives, how do you envision the evolving role of art in the digital age, and how do you position your creations within this dynamic landscape?
There are various roles for art in this era. Some artists fully embrace the advanced technology of digital media, some visual artists are deeply immersed in their own world and at the same time act as observers of their real world, which I think of as a good artist. As the digital media is deeply penetrated into reality, artists cannot exclude them for good but I think they will accept and recreate them in their own ways. In my case, like I have said, I will be in the middle, continuously learning about digital media and at the same time have the stance to run away from it (running away doesn’t mean intentionally, I just tend to not work well with digital technology).
