월간미술 2020년 9월 작가 리뷰
안종현 징후 혹은 증후로서의 장소와 사진에 대하여 | 김현주
《Far, Near, and In-between》
My father is from South Pyongan Province. During the Korean War, he was compelled to leave his hometown and flee south. The southern region he reached after enduring numerous hardships was a barren land, almost entirely devastated by the war. In the spring of 2014, my father suffered a stroke and has been bedridden in the hospital ever since.
His body is marked by numerous needle scars and traces of treatment. There is scarcely a part of him untouched. Moreover, due to COVID-19, hospital visits are prohibited, preventing us from seeing him even through a window. This personal experience naturally connected with the historical context of Korea. Division reveals itself repeatedly, from the individual level to the national level.
The distance of this story feels cozily far at times, yet also tangibly near. It seems unrelated to us at one moment, but then it feels too directly connected, leaving us in a dilemma. We have experienced the impact of division on individuals and the nation countless times throughout history.
《Far, Near, and In-between》 focuses on facilities created with U.S. aid after the Korean War, located near the DMZ in areas with unexploded landmines, U.S. military bases, and psychiatric hospitals. I visualized the atmosphere of division felt from the realities of personal and national division. This project is a process of visualizing a ‘reality separated from reality’ through space and ideology. This aesthetically refined process also serves as a record that crosses the boundaries of reality and imagination.
Through this work, I hope we can revisit the past and present of division and re-examine the identity of individuals and the nation shaped by it. The exhibition title, 《Far, Near, and In-between》, was inspired by the order of target appearances during military shooting training.
March 2021