Tripartite Confrontation
2013
Directional speaker, stereo speaker, telephone, ventilation fan cover, frame
Dimensions and durations variable (unique durations per looped channel)
Three pieces of sound played from unidentified origins in the exhibition space.
This work, inspired by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictee, reflects on the elusive identity of its narrator. Throughout the nine chapters of the work, the author arbitrarily shifts the narrator’s identity without introduction or notice, using this fluidity almost as a form of noise. The narrator’s identity switches between figures such as Ryu Gwansun (a prominent activist in the March 1st Movement against Japanese colonial rule in Korea), a mother, “myself,” and Mother Teresa. However, the central subject or guiding voice remains unclear. This context hints at the slippage and incommunicability between language and the object, which the author either explores throughout the book or intentionally avoids addressing. It also evokes the experience of hearing mysterious, untraceable noises from unknown origins—much like the world’s many inexplicable sounds.
In the exhibition space, intermittent, fragmentary sounds emerge from telephones and concealed speakers. These may initially seem like meaningless noise, but they suggest the presence of an unseen person or entity.
1. A phone rings periodically. When someone nearby answers, the call is disconnected without a word.
2. A whistle, audible only from a particular spot in the space, intermittently emerges from behind the ventilation fan.
3. Knocks and thuds are heard from behind a framed photograph hanging on the wall.
(KR)
2013
Directional speaker, stereo speaker, telephone, ventilation fan cover, frame
Dimensions and durations variable (unique durations per looped channel)
Three pieces of sound played from unidentified origins in the exhibition space.
This work, inspired by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictee, reflects on the elusive identity of its narrator. Throughout the nine chapters of the work, the author arbitrarily shifts the narrator’s identity without introduction or notice, using this fluidity almost as a form of noise. The narrator’s identity switches between figures such as Ryu Gwansun (a prominent activist in the March 1st Movement against Japanese colonial rule in Korea), a mother, “myself,” and Mother Teresa. However, the central subject or guiding voice remains unclear. This context hints at the slippage and incommunicability between language and the object, which the author either explores throughout the book or intentionally avoids addressing. It also evokes the experience of hearing mysterious, untraceable noises from unknown origins—much like the world’s many inexplicable sounds.
In the exhibition space, intermittent, fragmentary sounds emerge from telephones and concealed speakers. These may initially seem like meaningless noise, but they suggest the presence of an unseen person or entity.
1. A phone rings periodically. When someone nearby answers, the call is disconnected without a word.
2. A whistle, audible only from a particular spot in the space, intermittently emerges from behind the ventilation fan.
3. Knocks and thuds are heard from behind a framed photograph hanging on the wall.
(KR)
#1-4 Installation View at Doosan Gallery, Seoul (Photo by Chulki Hong)