“당신(우리)의 밝은 미래” 그리고 번역과 문맥들“

Abstract

In the context of globalized art world, Nam June Paik was one of the earliest and most significant global artists, as evidence by a comprehensive retrospective exhibition held at the Smithsonian in 2013 titled, Nam June Paik: Global Visionary. He is also quite famous for pithy expressions in English, one of which is this: I’m a poor man from a poor country so I have to be entertaining every second. Here he speaks of having to be entertaining all the time – an exaggerated compensation to overcome the difference and the asymmetry of power that exists in the art world. Bahc Yiso work Your Bright Future (2002/2006) can be seen as the direct response to Nam June Paik’s quip, with ten bright spotlights illuminating an empty wall, being the visual equivalent to entertaining every second. Both Nam June Paik’s comment and Bahc Yiso’s work ring satirical, yet the relevance remains. No longer the poor country, Korean artists still feel the pressure to extend themselves beyond their Korean or non-Western identity to distinguish themselves in the international art scene. With this introduction that also relates to my work, my paper discusses the span of my work from my early years since my immigration to the states, in northern California to the present, with crisscross movements across the continent as well as edifying travels to numerous places. One of my early influences was Theresa Hakkyoung Cha when we both attended University of California, Berkeley as well as our short time together in New York City until her abrupt passing. I was brought to New York City to attend the Whitney Independence Program, and my residence there for a nine-year spell was interrupted by a three-year teaching stint at Ohio University (1981-1984). New York proved to be an enriching period of artistic and intellectual growth, including my involvement with Godzilla and other Asian American groups, Young Koreans United, and my meeting of Mo Bahc, who changed his nom de art to Bahc Yiso when he moved to Korea. In 1993 I moved to Los Angeles, California when I took the teaching position at University of California at Irvine as my work became more interdisciplinary with more time devoted to curatorial projects for the more discursive subjects that also entailed considerable research. Two of my most involved curatorial projects were There: Sites of Korean Diaspora, for the Gwangju Biennale, in 2002 and transPOP: Korea Vietnam Remix, an international travelling exhibit that took place from 2007-2009. I discuss these among other curatorial projects and highlight my artistic developments that have not been thorough but have captured some aspects of my recent concerns and interests. My artistic practice continues to attain certain investments in sensibilities that probe and question historical discourses.