Michael Workman

An exhibit of Korean new media work at Walsh Gallery in the West Loop makes the familiar media of digital imagery and video projection both a visually accessible and emotionally disturbing experience.

Walk into Choi Jungbun's South Gallery installation "Choi57 Visual Performance: Hikari Chicago" for instance, and there's instant technological disorientation. From outside the frosted glass room, the room pulsates and glows with roving bursts of white light which, seen at night, creates an intriguing sort of lightbox effect. Step into this thoroughly wired room and you'll have to navigate lengths of purple speaker cable stapled to the floor, zigzagging from one corner to the next, terminating in a series of two dozen or so mismatched subwoofers buzzing with static, beeps and assorted circuitry sounds. A Mac Powerbook G4 and Sony Handycam lay on the floor in the corner, running video and computer-generated sequences through two Panasonic video projectors.

The most prominent projection fills one whole corner of the room, a flickering array of bright, static colors. A piece of tape on the floor instructs viewers to "Stand Here, Facing Wall." There's a bit of guilt associated with doing so, since this posture mimics the insidious punishment of schoolchildren. Once positioned, however, you'll notice that your shadow has been anticipated: a vaguely humanoid figure has been outlined using a series of white map tacks pressed into the wall. Opposite this, an LCD projector hanging on a ceiling-mounted trellis displays a split-screen, shifting between mostly fractal-like imagery and a spatial movement of a field of individual cubes, floating in empty space, and finally to stereoscopic imagery with seconds of flashed text, all moving at a flicker.

Out in the main gallery, Kim Joon's four-minute single-channel video projection "Daehanminguh: Flesh Park" opens with what appears to be a hybrid between a male and female breast, heaving with each breath and wet with perspiration. Emblazoned over the mound of flesh just above the nipple are symbols from the I Ching and a large Yin-Yang. Four punctured orifices superimposed over the digitally manipulated image pulsate in time with a military march sequence. Then, in time to the beat of the march, balls of fire erupt from the orifices, banging and exploding until the end, when gusts of smokes stream up out of the holes. Next, more digitally manipulated imagery of quasi-anatomy, including a butterfly tattoo juxtaposed beside a nipple, a flaming sun tattoo over a prehensile nipple at its center twisting and turning like the tip of a hungry maggot. Joon's obviously had fun with the 3D Max and premier editing software, with his final image a tour de force: across what looks like the skin of a stomach, flattened and stretched to fill the screen are tattooed numerous soldiers, posed in different combat postures. In a grid around them, more orifices, again expulsing fireballs in time with the soundtrack. "Flesh Park" alone veers dangerously close to making a gutsy glorying statement about the constant change of Korean new media.

Kim Sejin's fifteen-minute, single-channel video, "Take A Picture" returns the exhibit from the overblown flash and flamboyance to the self-discipline of prep-school youths. Huddled together in one side of a small room, a class full of uniformed Korean students stand in real time, arranged in rows and staring blankly into the camera. The shot lingers for an exorbitant amount of time until, suddenly, the screen flashes white and the class moves at ease, the image captured. The students rearrange, lowering themselves to the floor to sit for their second portrait. A boy in a back room remains standing momentarily, either chiding or giving instruction to another boy in the front row. Then another real-time durational shot, waiting for the flash. Repeat.

An exercise in absorbing physical brutalization, "Physical Requirements for an Artist: 2nd--Enjoy Yourself in Every Condition," Chang Jia takes a beating in her four-minute single-channel video installation. Framed in a medium-length talking-head shot, the artist at first merely stares into the camera, long, straight black hair arranged daintily over her shoulders, fighting back facial expression. Then a hand reaches into the frame and the assault begins. In the course of the video, the hand smacks, shoves, smears Jia's head and face raw eggs, and bangs her skull against the wall behind her. Broken shells hang in the sticky yolk dripping from the wall, the artists's hair thick with egg, strands sticking to her face and forehead as the hand yanks her hair, pushing her head at uncomfortable angles. Always with the hint of a smile.

Girls, girls, girls

New York-based artist Orly Cogan this week opens a show of her latest work in "Bachelor Girl" at Julia Friedman Gallery in the West Loop. A show to warm the cockles, Cogan's embroidery work on vintage fabrics lays bare the sexuality of usually adolescent female nudes. Flowers play a large role in her pieces, overgrown buds and stalks swirling and framing the bared flesh of her subjects in Edenic tableaux of female pubescence. In "The Affair," a brunette wearing only bra, underwear and ankle boots kisses and frets with a frock-coated hand puppet. In "Poptart Girl" a blonde teen, wearing only pink underwear and fuzzy green socks, sits with one leg tucked under, thighs spread wide as she munches down one of the breakfast pastries. Pop-art tarts, anyone?

Relative Reality shows at Walsh Gallery, 118 North Peoria, 2nd Floor, (312)829-3312, through January 10. Orly Cogan shows at Julia Friedman Gallery, 118 North Peoria, (312)455-0755, through January 24.

(2003-12-10)

Also by Michael Workman

Tip of the Week
To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Pinewood Derby, Chicago artist John Wanzel has organized "Fast Track: Race Day 2003" at Wicker Park's 1/Quarterly Space
(2003-12-02)

Eye Exam
Make a wish. Blow out the candles. It's a ritual tinged with an aura of sympathetic magic...
(2003-12-02)

Eye Exam
"Contingent Living," an exhibit curated by local art maven Michelle Grabner, takes our fast-paced world to task
(2003-11-26)

The art of giving
Buying affordable art for holiday gifts keeps getting easier
(2003-11-26)

Tip of the Week
(2003-11-19)

Eye Exam
(2003-11-19)

Tip of the Week
(2003-11-13)

Eye Exam
(2003-11-13)

TP or not TP
(2003-11-05)

Eye Exam
(2003-11-05)

Tip of the Week
(2003-10-29)

Eye Exam
(2003-10-29)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment