BANSANG VARIATION: Lee Seung Hyun
Gallery Chosun will present Lee Seung Hyun’s exhibition 《Bansang Variation》 from July 2 to 13. In Lee’s work, the strange life forms that have appeared consistently now meet the game of Go, often called a complete model of life. It will be interesting to see how these growing drawn organisms respond to the rules of Go and draw viewers in. The exhibition will feature new drawings along with a mural. Visitors will encounter a unique world built from the artist’s invented organisms and the logic of chance.
《Bansang Variation》 experiments with a new way of drawing, inspired by the similarity between creating unknown life forms and the movement of stones in Go. These imaginary creations begin without a planned sketch. A single line starts the process. Chance associations guide their growth and without a fixed direction they multiply into virtual organisms.
The forms can be seen as hidden beings that have lived inside me, using my energy as a host. By drawing them, I cultivate and spread them into the world. Their growth reflects a struggle to escape rigid and mechanical social order, searching for shelter and deviation. Each accidental form becomes the cause of the next. Cause and result cycle continuously, as if the organisms are reproducing on their own.
Go is played on a board of nineteen vertical and horizontal lines, forming 361 intersections. Two players place black and white stones in turn, competing to control more territory. With over four thousand years of history, no two games are ever the same. Players read the game ahead, choosing each move carefully to attack, defend, and shape the whole board. A single move can decide life or death for a small group of stones or shift the overall balance. Sometimes focusing on a small area leads to control of a larger one. Unexpected moves can change everything. Through this complex process, territory and form gradually emerge.
I found a parallel between birth and self-organisation of my organic forms and the way a Go game develops. Both move through cycles of chance and necessity while building a larger structure. Based on recorded game scores from the first move to the last, I place and grow my imagined organisms on fixed coordinates. The drawing continues until the final move is reached.
This project focuses on process rather than result. With countless possible outcomes, the work does not aim for one fixed end. Instead, it studies how unexpected situations can arise during many possible paths and how these moments can be expressed naturally through drawing (Artist’s Note)