Building a Void: Park Hyejeong
In Terry Gilliam’s film Brazil(1985), there is a scene where Sam, the protagonist, wears large white feather wings and flies between tall grey buildings to find Jill, the female protagonist. When the artist first planned a work based on the text 「변화무쌍」(Changable), the image in mind was similar to that scene.
The artist imagined a huge wall at the entrance and a maze-like space made of connected walls. Visitors would walk through it, then see the whole structure from another viewpoint and gain a single line of sight that runs through the exhibition.
But while working, the artist realised that a project based on 「변화무쌍」 could not truly be changeable if it were a heavy, solid mass. The change the artist wants to describe is light. 일허일실 is a phrase that means things appear and disappear as change happens. To the artist, this suggests that what we think exists may not truly exist, and what seems absent may in fact be there. Existence can be very light.
So the work began with structures that resemble the divided, massive, and almost aggressive cityscape of Seoul. Over time, it let go of that weight. It still fills the space, but at the same time it loses volume and remains open.
The related work 「LIGHT」 also has a double nature. While watching water constantly flow and disappear in a closed space, the artist hopes viewers will sense the possibility of expanding or moving into another space in their own minds.
Displayed with 「변화무쌍」 and 「LIGHT」, Paradise Hotel stands in contrast to the other two works. While those two deal with creation and disappearance, coming closer and moving away. Paradise Hotel focuses on glass. Using clear acrylic, it reflects an idea discussed by Park Haechan in his book 『Concrete Utopia』. He writes about the glass window as a boundary that blocks the provocation of the city, and at the same time as a surface that reflects both the self and the city.
For a stranger trying to reach Paradise Hotel Incheon on foot, the entrance was hard to find and required a small journey. In that short but long moment, the hotel felt both like a destination that welcomed the artist and a wall that refused entry. Through this exhibition, the artist hopes that each visitor will discover their own small journey.