Stumbling with the Digital: On the Work of Kang Jungsuck

Abstract

In this article, I claim that everyday encounters with the strata of digital culture may evoke a sense of wonder and anticipation but also give rise to instances of hesitation and uncertainty, which places the individual on rough terrain where he or she stumbles around painfully seeking a firm ground. In examining these types of experiences, I analyze four videos made by artist Kang Jungsuck (1984–). What is interesting in Kang’s work is that he neither defends nor naively embraces the pervasive character of digital culture. The videos reveal the ways in which he mediates everyday life as a digitalized realm, capturing its euphoric and fascinating atmosphere as well as its pessimistic and lethargic moods. Kang’s works open up an inflected world where forces and rhythms of the post-internet generate various forms of life. The constant back- and-forth movements between the digital and the ordinary and their stuttering audiovisual qualities reflect his hesitant mind, which seeks neither to completely negate nor passively acknowledge the inescapable character of the digitalized world.