Although we have denied on, the desire of art always has been life. It was life too that add father complex, alienation, the fear of castration and paranoia to art. The art resembling unsatisfied and disobedient teenager, the thesis of such discontinuation have been paradoxically testified the love and hate of art for life. Art only can menifest itself in the hypothesis of existence that is a pointed angle and tension against the life. Look at the familiar duel of the existentialism and the greed for beauty that once allowed the golden period of art. You can not make up rhetoric when life is in urgency. Life is just a buzz when you indulge yourself in significant form. The word of beauty goes on: existence drives out beauty and the beauty must give existence the back in result.
So, you could have yelled everybody to destroy the bridge of the usual life and burn the boat out. It is no matter how to define the life at present as troublesome mess or the ever existing paradise: you may be a boat toward the life or you may destroy the boat. What is important is that art has a father-whether a stepfather or a merciful father-and art only can define itself within such complex relationship to its father. That is to say, art is a son who can be summoned in that only father: art can expand itself only when it expand the life. That would be also an interesting reference to understand the trend of Park, Taedong's work.
So, you could have yelled everybody to destroy the bridge of the usual life and burn the boat out. It is no matter how to define the life at present as troublesome mess or the ever existing paradise: you may be a boat toward the life or you may destroy the boat. What is important is that art has a father-whether a stepfather or a merciful father-and art only can define itself within such complex relationship to its father. That is to say, art is a son who can be summoned in that only father: art can expand itself only when it expand the life. That would be also an interesting reference to understand the trend of Park, Taedong's work.
Park, Tae-dong confessed himself those past few years had been tough. Though he had not stopped all social activities, he said he has been confused and extinguished meaning in himself drifting on tide, especially could not have indulged himself in 'creative work'. Park, Tae-dong understood these as an inevitable journey returning to himself. And, he told his works showing now shared the undetachable context of the very returning.
Listening to the artist's story, I recall a spot: where it comes and goes between life and art; where it connects and disconnects; a dead section where electrical D.C. and A.C. are crossing over; a contingency point of death and birth; where the relationship of life and art reveals drastically. Say, it is a final moment of explosion of life toward art, from beauty to usual life; a moment when it remains void, art becomes a mere social schedule left in occupational mannerism!
If my thought is right, Park, Tae-dong must be just passed such moment. That is evident in his show which he wanted to make a location of a certain rapid explosion. And this location of explosion paradoxically testifies that he deals with the recent torrents of feelings which he had not enough time to clear. This power, abrupt burst, unstable wave of twitching momentum, unspeakable but else the energy before tanking must be derived from the switch point from life to art. So far, by this unstable and unruly power, his world comes a step closer to the wildlife garden. The show that the artist wants is not an artificial tidy garden with the one or two kind of super trees. In contrast, a sculpture like a shrub conitued its own type of life, and the show like the open yard in nature that can not ignore the rectangular cut, which is attracting Park, Tae-dong's thought. Therefore the ultimate question is about approaching attitude toward formalism or mechanism that wither exhibitions away like effected monumental tree planting.
Listening to the artist's story, I recall a spot: where it comes and goes between life and art; where it connects and disconnects; a dead section where electrical D.C. and A.C. are crossing over; a contingency point of death and birth; where the relationship of life and art reveals drastically. Say, it is a final moment of explosion of life toward art, from beauty to usual life; a moment when it remains void, art becomes a mere social schedule left in occupational mannerism!
If my thought is right, Park, Tae-dong must be just passed such moment. That is evident in his show which he wanted to make a location of a certain rapid explosion. And this location of explosion paradoxically testifies that he deals with the recent torrents of feelings which he had not enough time to clear. This power, abrupt burst, unstable wave of twitching momentum, unspeakable but else the energy before tanking must be derived from the switch point from life to art. So far, by this unstable and unruly power, his world comes a step closer to the wildlife garden. The show that the artist wants is not an artificial tidy garden with the one or two kind of super trees. In contrast, a sculpture like a shrub conitued its own type of life, and the show like the open yard in nature that can not ignore the rectangular cut, which is attracting Park, Tae-dong's thought. Therefore the ultimate question is about approaching attitude toward formalism or mechanism that wither exhibitions away like effected monumental tree planting.
Park, Tae-dong's show now is somewhat untidy. As written above, the works rather be read as 'before-order' than 'intended-chaos' and menifest waving order instead of fixation. Each of work is whether presents an incomplete sculpture or a nonsensically scuptural form. It seems like the words free from spelling. They are lack of independency or too much independent(spiky). The relationship among them is open unsafely without regulation. Compared to a sentence, this show must be one before proofreading. That should be a change to take a notice. For, so far, the world of Park, Tae-dong has been casted in pinpointing arrangement, crystalized language of inner refining and compact yet lyrical rhythm.
Before this show, materiality was a kind of axis of his world. It was a stand to hold his world from too much leaning to lyricism or rhetorical text. The artist used to control yeast of spreading feelings and fatal lightness of words through thick twelve millimetered steel plate. However, the refined language and balance is not a critical factor in his world any more. Now he thinks it is all right that his work has no need to be such an elaboration. It may be all right to be lighter or to be leaned aside. Though he was strict with the materiality, his thought is now mingling with a series of anti-materiality, the adorable shimmering of silver tone on the aluminium surface. The suitablity of shimmering silver tone itself is so much attractive to erase the narrative off.
Such shimmering-according to his word, 'not showing off'-and noble tone is not only anti-material but also anti-scuptural, urban, feminine, and solely self-referencial. When he covered his self-statue with this tone, it became clear that this anti-materiality directed; to soften and control too much lyricism that defined himself too tight. For this shimmering tone, the melancholy in his statue is strikingly neutralized. An aluminium bouquet is unintendedly become a discourse of anti-thesis on the black pedestal which is more dignified than the work. Thus, in the world of Park, Tae-dong traditional sign become a turnover and confronting orders are flanked together. The paradoxical scene they make is glad of the wildlife beyond order and safety.
Though it may be not the menifestation of independence and freedom, Park, Tae-dong's world accompany them. Though experiment was not his goal, his show keeps a series of experiments. Likewise, he opens himself to the estranged concept: on the other hand, he drive himself to figure modeling that appears to be old fashioned. Moreover, not matter nor materiality is a permanent constancy for him. They are together with plaster, wood, steel, aluminium, object, anti-object, and installation concept. When he accepts totally explosive-deconstructive-forms, he also pursues academical square or cubical forms on the other hand. Once again, though it is not his goal, there are all mingled down.
He permits no regulation to himself. It is a result of not restraining himself nor controlling his desire. As seen in the question of "Why do I have to?", his world has surely less complex than before. That is because the artist has reached "there". Talking in a sense, what would be different a sculpture from the gestalt of complex product? That is why Park, Tae-dong wants to describe his leap from his confused life as like a ever first festival. I also consider it is right to call it so. In fact, all we are missing a festival, aren't we?
Before this show, materiality was a kind of axis of his world. It was a stand to hold his world from too much leaning to lyricism or rhetorical text. The artist used to control yeast of spreading feelings and fatal lightness of words through thick twelve millimetered steel plate. However, the refined language and balance is not a critical factor in his world any more. Now he thinks it is all right that his work has no need to be such an elaboration. It may be all right to be lighter or to be leaned aside. Though he was strict with the materiality, his thought is now mingling with a series of anti-materiality, the adorable shimmering of silver tone on the aluminium surface. The suitablity of shimmering silver tone itself is so much attractive to erase the narrative off.
Such shimmering-according to his word, 'not showing off'-and noble tone is not only anti-material but also anti-scuptural, urban, feminine, and solely self-referencial. When he covered his self-statue with this tone, it became clear that this anti-materiality directed; to soften and control too much lyricism that defined himself too tight. For this shimmering tone, the melancholy in his statue is strikingly neutralized. An aluminium bouquet is unintendedly become a discourse of anti-thesis on the black pedestal which is more dignified than the work. Thus, in the world of Park, Tae-dong traditional sign become a turnover and confronting orders are flanked together. The paradoxical scene they make is glad of the wildlife beyond order and safety.
Though it may be not the menifestation of independence and freedom, Park, Tae-dong's world accompany them. Though experiment was not his goal, his show keeps a series of experiments. Likewise, he opens himself to the estranged concept: on the other hand, he drive himself to figure modeling that appears to be old fashioned. Moreover, not matter nor materiality is a permanent constancy for him. They are together with plaster, wood, steel, aluminium, object, anti-object, and installation concept. When he accepts totally explosive-deconstructive-forms, he also pursues academical square or cubical forms on the other hand. Once again, though it is not his goal, there are all mingled down.
He permits no regulation to himself. It is a result of not restraining himself nor controlling his desire. As seen in the question of "Why do I have to?", his world has surely less complex than before. That is because the artist has reached "there". Talking in a sense, what would be different a sculpture from the gestalt of complex product? That is why Park, Tae-dong wants to describe his leap from his confused life as like a ever first festival. I also consider it is right to call it so. In fact, all we are missing a festival, aren't we?
2005, Shim Sang-Yong( Ph.D in Art History, Professor at Seoul National University)