Part of the problem with this work is that Park has made it almost too abstract. This exhibit which was also taken in the international arena loses the audiences once they are not fully Korean. This is because non-Koreans cannot appreciate the subtle aspects of the artwork because they are dealing with objects and symbols that unique to Korean culture. When the images of the video-art lose their meaning, Park's exhibit shows that there are many limitations to this medium. Specifically, that it is so abstract in nature it only has relevance in the Korean setting. This is a problem with the new video-art format, because it has become so abstract that they cannot be translated across cultures. Park's work especially deviates from the traditional Korean symbolism but he still attempts to have a strong connection with Korean culture.
Park has continued to focus on his theme of the blending of nature, technology and beauty in his more modern artwork. In one recent exhibit, he created "Water Series" which was exhibited in 1997 at the Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art in Kyongju. He uses the exhibition floor for this exhibit where he projects images of waves onto cubes of artificial stone. The projections ultimately resemble small ponds through their interplay and weaving. Park explains that he is attempting to use this piece to convey a traditional Korean concept of poetry composing parties during the Chosun Dynasty. His projections mirror the attitude of contemplation that the attendants of the parties feel when they are by the river streams composing poetry and drinking. The piece is very symbolic but also alluring because when the viewer looks at the waves he gets mesmerized and "pulled in."
This piece is much different from his last work because he focuses on creating something that is neutral rather than highly cultural. Both Korean and non-Korean audiences can draw something from this piece because of its overall beauty. The significance of the interpretation can be different provided different circumstances because the importance of the piece...
Park's specific interest in providing beauty and doing it in a Korean culture that has changed significantly in the past fifty years because of the emerging sense of social change due to the influence of western culture.
Overall Park is one of the new wave of video-art artists that is taking the genre to a new level. Like many other artists he sees this genre as a combination of many different cultural and artistic forces that come into play. He does not want to completely stop the reliance on traditional concepts of art, but at the same time he sees that traditions are changing and that the culture of Korea has shifted away from their former values and towards more modernism. His art uses the technology available today to combine with traditional themes and ideas, to spark a new unity of beauty as a blending of nature, traditional and modernization. All of these ideas are extremely important to the new artistic movements of Korean artists and Park is an example of how new art mediums are becoming more popular in Korea. Korean artists are now taking the world stage to showcase their work internationally and although some of their work remains only significant to Korean audiences, the evolution of art has led to more appreciation for Korean contemporary art in general.
The image significant: identity in contemporary Korean video art
Afterimage, http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2479/is_1_27" July-August, 1999 by Joan Kee
Artist's quotation from the unsigned article, "Exhibit Illuminates Pioneer of Korean Video Art: Park Hyun-Ki Explores Relationship Between Technology and Traditional Aesthetics," Korea Herald, September 8, 1998.
Roland Barthes, "The Photographic Message," in Image-Music-Text (New York: Hill and Wang, 1977), p. 1.
Kee, pg 1
Key pg. 2
Unnamed author, refer to bibliography
Kee, pg 2
Kee, pg 3
Barthes, pg 1
