Introducing the Artis and Art world / SooJin,Ahn's Art world

It is frightening when you realize that the cold look of machine sometimes reflect the look on the faces of human beings. Machine itself only duly performs what it is supposed to do, but Sujin Ahn's machines convey the artist's emotions acutely. The words "shame", "alienation", and "false image" describe his main psychological state. And through these simple words, he views the society and human emotions. I believe these words are related with hope, disappointment, and fear that insignificant human beings feel in this big organization of a society. This is graphically proven in `feedback'. The delicate piece of machinery has a strange neurotic aspect in that it dramatically shows alienation in its repetition of operation. In fact, the machine may be making me feel this way because I have a tinge of expectation towards it. Humans always tend to go through a series of self-allusion or illusion. However, when we try to act as a human being in a society and not in narcissism, this state becomes more discouraging.
Machine signifies conveniency and productivity in the modern world. Such fixed ideas make Sujin Ahn's machines look imaginary. Like an artist's stroke of brush or angle of sculpturing, a slight move may display a different form. It is certain that the audience's illusions are realized through the artists' dreams, but somehow I feel that the artist should not look for aspects of alienation in society. When the machine itself can convey its emotions, the humans may well be alienated by the machine. This is a frightening thought. Nowadays, we found new ways to express art in mechanic operations that leave no room for errors and we are used to machines that represent the artists' feelings. This is because we are afraid of another kind of alienation found on the other side of human reflection in machine.

Eun-Jung Cho/ Art Critic


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