SANG-GON CHUNG

ELIN KARD (EK): Why an artist should tackle with the topic of exile?
Why would it be interesting (necessary etc) to make an artistic comment on theme of exile?

CHG: I made my work "Three Persons -Exodus" in the conceptual context of "In-Exile" as a natural aesthetic act according to the nowadays’ radical change of the abstract concepts such as nation and national boundary. Though it is different from the present situation of Europe, it seems that our living situation is also going through serious changes. Geo-politically, the East Asian region is also seen as having vivid differences as well as cultural and historical common features when it is scrutinized deeply and in wide range.

EK: Whether the media of graphic fine art enchances or diminishes the signification of the notion of exile?

CHG: Recently I have come to focus on the print media as an instrument for the communication of information and knowledge in my pursuit of new possibilities of printmaking. I think that it is appropriate as a medium for dealing with currently occurring various and complicated human affairs.
The concept of printmaking is not fixed. I think that there is no boundary in the way that I express myself as an Print-making Artist.

EK: What is the main connotation of the word exile for you? Does it mean lifelong status of a refugee, of self reduction and homelessness or, on the contrary, big freedom ?

CHG: As for me, “In-Exile" may be an event that can be experienced indirectly (or directly) by any person in any cultural area. My work "Three Persons -Exodus" starts from the quotation of a newspaper article, which describes three North Korean people crossing (escaping?) over the frozen River Tumen at midnight. The content of this work is as following.
The image of the three North Korean people crossing stealthily over the River Tumen may be itself "Exodus" as it is described on the newspaper as well as my and everybody’s journey on life. In this work, which was made from the original source into three separate picture through modification by computer, I attempted to add the characteristics of "my and our" universal and ordinary family on the form of a family that consists of a father and a mother and a daughter together thrusting out of darkness, through the boundary vagueness and portions of images and composition of bright and particular (repetitive) images according to different planes.

EK: What kind of impact has the world of globalization, that evokes people to adapt with new neighbourhoods and emerges cultural backgrounds and ethnicities, on your work?

CHG: In my work, cultural backgrounds, nationality and historicity exist only as relative concepts. Our world has become smaller in its palpable distance because of the progress of civilization. I think that the survival as an ‘Print-making Artist’ requires the clear recognition of that small world itself as well as the detection of subtle differences in events and objects themselves with precise focusing. That is, I think that a life of meaningful pursuits as an artist is sometimes to cling to tedious, narrow and subtle things or to something unimportant from the perspective of other culture.

EK: What does the word nation signifies for you? Does the nation join with concept meaning of yourself when it is dispossessed of traditional characteristics ?

CHG: My birth within a peninsula and growth within a peculiar environment have made my conception of nation into a unilateral and traditional one. I think that such influences are being reflected into my works in no small measure though I do not know the extent now.

EK: Exile in the private environment? How it connects with the general idea of the exile?

CHG: The "Three People crossing over the River Tumen" in my work who seems to be a family, are refugees who escaped from North Korea for political and economic reasons. This problem is also our national problem as well as a problem related with China adjacent to North Korea. It would occur when countries are adjacent to each other by land or river or sea as national boundary. Especially, East Asian regional characteristic is one of its main causes. It is one of the problems that must be solved in our near future. These problems belong to my main concerns as an artist.