“One day Zhangzi became a butterfly in his dream.  Whilst enjoying a joyous fly in the spotless air, he forgot whether he was Zhangzi or a butterfly.  After he woke up, he finally realized he was Zhangzi.”  This is a famous anecdote from Zhangzi’s Taoism theory.  Here Zhangzi raised a question whether “he became a butterfly in his dream or vice versa.”  Although the purpose of this question is to warn us of the danger of premeditated discrimination, it also helps us to understand the question of representation in art or the relation between reality and image.  While this story is based on epistemological dimension, the representation of reality can find its origin from its phenomenological aspect.  However, considering the fact that perception and phenomenon are closely interconnected like a circle, it is not worth pointing out disparity between them. 

Changkyum Kim’s work is about the question of representation.  The answer to this question is displayed through the exploration of the relation between reality and image.  Image of contemporary era refuses to be defined within the context of art only; it is a kind of social index which can be consumed in political context in various forms.  Kim’s interest in image covers more than art.  To him, image is the representation of reality which functions as a sort of image-generator within the context of art, and at the same time, it can also be interpreted as symbols of political, social, and economical environment which help images to be consumed and circulated. 
     “I gave up sculpture because image took priority over reality,” said Kim.  This sentence reminds me of Jean Baudrillard’s comments on modern society such as “images without origin,” “images which is more realistic than reality,” and “image that substitutes reality.”  And the way he sees reality as a mere image takes me back to old philosophers’ idea that defined an ephemeral being as a shadow of eternal being.  Kim’s strong skeptical view on reality constitutes the philosophical base behind his art and provides conceptual aura.  

     Since his skepticism toward reality comes from his real experience rather than a mere conceptual play, what he want to say becomes very clear on the basis of solid logic and appealing sympathy.  For example, Kim sees the whole procedures of his artworks in which involve his intense labor and invisible spirit projected onto the process as the core of his sculpture, while viewers’ interest is only focused on the aesthetical pleasure of the consequences such as materials, shapes, and colors. 
     <Taking out Cube> in 1998, the juxtaposition of a framed picture of a stone cube and deserted rubbles of stones, well portrays the artist’s mute but very strong aversion to conventional ideas about the question of reality and image in sculpture. 
     <Pedestal for An Image; 1997~1999> maximizes the mutual intervention between reality and image by projecting moving pictures of the surface of the stone used for the pedestal onto the upper part of the real cubic pedestal.  In this artwork, the real base seems to be described as a solid being with depth and specific texture while the image is depicted as an obscure being which takes its ontological reason from superficial flatness that will go away as soon as the power of projector is off.  However, what is more important than the distinction between reality and image is that he didn’t provide any clue to crack this disparity.  His deliberate tactic to allow mutual intervention is a keyword to understand his art.
    
     Moreover, viewers’ interest in imitation creates meta-sculpture or a newly emerging image of sculpture from a model.  <Meta-Sculpture and Meta`-Sculpture; 1997~2000>, an installation of photos, texts and videos, opens a window of opportunity for the third sculpture based on a pure image instead of reality through the collage of fragmented images from various resources.  Here, if we see “meta” as a middling device, “meta-sculpture” means “sculpture about sculpture,” “sculpture emerged from sculpture,” and “sculpture of sculpture.”  This sequential logic is based on his experience at a masonry factory.  He reassembles his works with the procedures of conceptual art and raises a question about the copyright and originality of what he made for other artists. 
Kim often employs letters as a narrative element for his artworks.  Letters in his artworks sent to a certain person can be categorized as mail art or mail performance.  Kim’s employment of letters is a good example of his efforts to practice a simple fact that art is already a part of our life even before it becomes art and the ultimate goal of art is to communicate with people.

Moreover, the relation between reality and image is first depicted as mutual intervention and infiltration, but finally boundaries between them become meaningless.  This experimental attempt in style is well mirrored in <Expected Mistake; 1998>, <Thwarting-Vision; 1999>, and <Still-Life; 1999>.  Even though, the contents are slightly different, they basically follow a common style that projects moving pictures onto various plaster objects which are used as backdrops for a living room and a bar decorated by moving pictures.  Plaster objects gain existential force with projected moving pictures.  When projected moving pictures go away, the palpable reality of plaster objects becomes weak and the inner white skin of the plaster objects appears from darkness. 

These artworks that transform conceptual pleasure or logical tension into sentimental experiences raise a question; what is reality and what is image?  If we define moving picture as a mere superficial image, then plaster objects are also mere images.  Even though these two occupy space with different weight, they are not reality.  They are just helping each other to mimic reality.  The artist tells us what we see as reality is not reality but image that seduces our eyes.  There is no real existence, instead reality consults image and vice versa. 

Water shadow four season(2)

What is interesting here is that the epistemological origin (natura morta) of plaster objects reminds of “still life” which indicates dead objects.  And it also involves the origin of image (imago) which symbolizes waxed faces of dead people, psyche, phantom, and shadow.  Moreover, Jean Baudrillard’s concept of simulation is the creation of the real through conceptual or mythological models which have no connection or origin in reality.  Therefore, we can say that his simulacrum is a “ghost,” which is just determinant of our perception of reality - the real.  The history of art is not only a mere representation of a perverted reality, but also a mirage of ephemeral series of images. 
The tug-of-war between image and reality in Kim’s art raises an analytical question about art history which is full of fleeting images.  The adjective, “transformed” in <Trans-Masterpiece; 2000>, the collected images from old western masterpieces, and <Trans-Church>, the parody of Vincent Van Gogh’s original painting, is a good example to see his strategy to adopt the aura of art history into the process of artwork.  Here, the adoption of the original is a residue of expatriation and intervention to relocate the original into new context.  Ironically enough, his parasite tactic to the original becomes more influential when the host or the original is more powerful.  

     Among Kim’s series of Van Gogh paintings, <Homage to Admiration Toward Van Gogh 1, 2; 1998-1999>, which adopts Van Gogh’s flower image and self-portrait image respectively, projects the original images onto white monochrome plaster canvas that mimicked the fast and brisk brush strokes of Van Gogh.  Various methods he uses to mythologize the original are designed to maximize the dramatic impact and allow his artworks to speak more than a simple attempt to blur the distinction between reality and image. 

A gold coated classical frame with flowery decoration, a bar that keeps off viewers’ close approach, and various texts such as an introduction to a museum, an essay about the exhibition, and letters are all appeared as devices to create the tension between reality and image.  The bullet proof glass to protect the painting, the surveillance of a guard, the alarming sensor that gives off warning signal to approaching viewers, and the astronomical price of the original are also functioned for the same purpose. 

The tautological title of his artwork is a sign of Kim’s effort to explore the real identity of the reverence for Van Gogh.  Kim finally comes closer to the true nature of the veneration by employing various devices to fabricate the feeling of respect for the image of Van Gogh.  The aura of the painting comes from institutional devices rather than the painting per se.  Therefore, when we encounter the original what we can appreciate is just a fleeting image without any palpable specificity.  From Kim’s projected self-portrait image onto Van Gogh’s self-portrait and his revised version of Van Gogh’s letter to Teo, we can find his interest in interactivity between the original and his art. 

the prayer for those that remain_single channel video_10min 40sec_2003

Literary, narrative, and autobiographical elements play very important role in his art.  These factors help viewers to feel what he wants to express.  Among his many tactics to maximize sympathetic impact in his art, the time travel that calls back him from the past is often applied to his self-reflecting artworks such as <Trans-Selfportrait, 1984-1999>, <con-versare, 1999>, <Letter, 2000>, and <Water-Shadow, 2001>. 
Like Kim’s other artworks, <Letter> explores the relation between reality and image by overlapping projected images over plaster models.  What is new to this artwork is narrative element, or narration that is added to emphasize the self-reflecting aspect of his art.  In this artwork, the artist in the present writes a letter to the artist in the past.  This time-warped illogical hypothesis reminds me of Jorge Luis Borges’s novel that depicts another alter ego in the same reality where one already exists.  The artist asks, “Were you (the artist in the past) there? Was I (the artist in the present) there?”  The reason why Kim uses the past sentence originates from the incomplete awareness of his identity which always requires his past. 

The composition of the past through self-reflecting recallection is as vague as cloud.  It is a formless redundancy with projected present desires.  His narration ends as soon as the projected image disappears from the plaster mold.  If there is no ‘I’ from the past, there is no present ‘I’ who finds his or her existential root in the past.  There is no physical evidence of ‘I’.  There only exists empty name and concept.  Am I real or just an image?  Like a butterfly and Zhangzi in Zhangzi’s dream, ‘I’ of the past and ‘I’ of the present are overlapped.

In his sound-mixed work, <Water-Shadow>, Kim adds splashy sounds to the projected water image on the stone basin that has hollow surface.  A sequence of dialogue; “Speak to me,” “Do you remember?”, “Go away,” “Don’t leave,” “But,” “I missed …,” “really?” is interupted by water falling sound.  Even though these words have very concrete meanings, but sooner or later, their semantic orders are dismantled and scattered into the splashy sounds.  This installation deals with the existence of crippling human being who are suffering from communication blockage caused by deformed meaning of words.  And the surface of the water symbolizes a mirror which functions as a self-reflecting medium.  The fluctuation of ripples on the surface is strong and weak at the same time.  This dichotomy represents the violence of time that nibbles away our past memories wich are already imperfect. 

Based on slide projectors and video installation, Kim's art employs a plaster model, which is often used to testify the existence of fictitious images rather than reality, and audible texts to maximize his meditative installation.  Through clear conceptual processes and solid visualization of image, he seems to succeed in conveying the relation between reality and image which constitute two main axes of representation, whilst maintaining lyrical sentiment throughout the whole process.  Using moving pictures in moderate and static way, Kim amplifies the dimension of our thought on images to the extent of the existential question of human being.  The asthetics of image can be found in deep consideration.

Choonghwan Goh (Art Critic)
Translated by Daehyung Lee (Curator, Artside)