Disarray of perspective

Bahk Seon-ghi's "An Aggregation 1506" was a part of the "Esprit Dior" exhibition at Dongdaemun Design Plaza. / Courtesy of the artist and Dior

Bahk explores relations between man and nature

This is the 14th in a series of interviews with notable artists recommended by the Korean Artist Project, an online platform promoting Korean art. ― ED.

Artist Bahk Seon-ghi

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Bahk Seon-ghi, known for his hanging installations and mid-relief sculptures containing optical illusions, is a prolific artist. He participated in more than 100 solo and group exhibitions in 2014 alone, mostly producing new pieces for each exhibition.

"An artist should create works of art prolifically because each artist develops through their work," Bahk said in an interview with The Korea Times last week. "I go to my studio and work from 9 to 6, just like office workers."

The idea for his signature hanging sculpture came from Bahk's affection for nature. "At first, I wanted to express wind in my work and my attention shifted to wood later. For me, charcoal is transformed wood and they are fundamentally the same," the artist, 49, said.

"An Aggregate — Drop 0909" / Graphic by Cho Sang-won

Titled "Aggregation," it is an installation series featuring charcoal pieces suspended by nylon threads and arranged into various architectural shapes such as column and stairs.

"I also take an interest in the relations between nature and people and borrowed the shapes of architectural structures to present the theme," he said. "I named them ‘Aggregation' because the collection of charcoals is similar to human society. Each person is different, but they form a society."

Beginning with roughly sketching the shape of the installation, Bahk draws up front, rear and side elevation blue prints for the hanging sculpture to transform the idea three-dimensionally. "Then I wash and dry the charcoal with my assistants to sort out the right ones for the installation. Many of them are too soft for the sculpture," Bahk explained.

Bahk Seon-ghi's suspended charcoal installations on display at the Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

In Korea, he sources charcoal from Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, which is known for high quality charcoal. When working abroad, Bahk just purchases bags of barbecue charcoal from local supermarkets.

Then he connects them with nylon threads based on a plan and suspends them from a transparent plate, which can be transferred to the exhibition venue easily.

"Suspended charcoal works became my signature and Westerners relate charcoal with Asian sentiment, which affected my characteristics as an artist," Bahk said. "Charcoal is an artistic material — each piece is unique and it represents different things in each culture. It could be either positive or negative, but charcoal symbolizes energy and nature in general."

"An Aggregation 150725 — Pagoda"

Bahk's works deceive the viewer's perspective as the artist asks the viewers that whether they see through their eyes or existing perception. "For my plane works, I slice existing shapes and rearrange them, which ironically enable the viewers to recognize the shapes more clearly."Bahk explored various aspects of the sense of sight in his "Point of View" and "An Aggregation" series and he is still obsessed over the visual perspective.

"It continually changes. Recently I am experimenting with pressed sculpture, which was one of my earliest projects. How points of view change the viewer's cognition of the work is amusing to me," he said.

"An Aggregation 20140101 — Column"

In his latest work "An Aggregation 150725 — Pagoda," Bahk combined the two themes of his major works. Currently on display at the Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the floating pieces of charcoal recreates the shape of Seokgatap, a stone pagoda at Bulguksa Temple. However, the shape of a pagoda can be seen only from a certain direction and distance and the configuration is fragmented from all other perspectives.

"Relationship 2007"

"My work is a visual poem. It implies the visual spectacle and the substances together and I emphasize the materiality in its poetic shapes."

Art critic Choi Tae-man said, "Bahk's works exist beyond the boundary between past and present, transience and permanence, reality and illusion, being and non-being and East and West."

Bahk is also open for opportunities to collaborate with enterprises. He is well-known for making the glittering crystal chandeliers at Hotel Shilla in downtown Seoul, which changes the shape seasonally.

"An Aggregation 201301"

"An artist should make a living with one's art. In Korea, the idea of fine art is often considered separate from commerciality, but I think working with companies can be a way for an artist to earn money while doing the day job. An artist is like a cook. The brand provides materials and the artist has to find the characteristics to make the best out of it," Bahk said.

"When they asked me to create an artwork for the lobby of Hotel Shilla, I visited the place and thought it was too dim. So I concluded that my usual hanging charcoal would not fit here and explored new materials, ending up with sparkly transparent acrylic beads."

Bahk recently took part in the Esprit Dior exhibit at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, envisioning the spirit of the French fashion house with his signature hanging sculpture in the shape of J'adore perfume bottle with gold-colored crystals. "For me, Dior was all about glamour so I tried to revive the history of the high fashion brand," Bahk explained.

Bahk is on a tight schedule for the second half of the year, with exhibitions lined up both inside and outside Korea, including the Asia Society Texas Center in Houston, Texas, and Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, Florida.

"I travel overseas twice a month on average and work with nine galleries in eight countries. Korea has a relatively small art market and I have to work internationally," he said.

For more information, visit www.koreanartistproject.com.