Kim Woo Young's Poetics of Tranquility

Kim Mi Ryoung _ Independent Curator, Art Studies

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MAY 2021

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1. Approach to thinking ​ Observing an object in depth and attempting to find its essence reflects a certain approach to thinking. Although this kind of thought may be considered as coming to the artist in a coincidental fashion, it actually travels through an endless path that cannot be called such. The artist’s experience of the notion that “the mountain is calm and the sun is long” mentioned in Eastern aesthetic philosophy refers to metaphysical thinking about eternity: an artistic way of thinking. The attitude of observing an object in depth and contemplating it to find its reasons is especially important in the East due to the importance placed on the experience of life and health, unlike human-centered Western philosophy. That is, Eastern philosophy is based on life and experience while Western philosophy is based on reason and knowledge. Moreover, embodying tranquility is regarded as the highest level of art in the East. The reason for this is that the outside world—that is, all things—is considered to be inherently calm and deep in its essence. In regard to this, Laozi said, “Returning to the root is called stillness, and stillness is the restoration of life.” Perhaps for this reason, stillness does not refer to the silence of the outside world, but a state of peace deep in the heart where the depth and origin of all things can be identified. ​ Artist Kim Woo Young’s work process begins by finding a subject which inspires him. Then, he identifies the essence of the subject and projects his aesthetic response into it. Kim Woo Young’s attitude toward his subject, his approach of observing and grasping its essence, and his process of waiting to find the ultimate root and nature of the object is key to understanding the type of objects he chooses for his work. This is perhaps due to the aesthetic philosophy which he seeks. 2. The Interior (內) “‘This is it!’ after discovering the finely visible lines and structures of a hanok beneath the white snow” - Kim Woo Young ​ The hanok is actually ‘our’ house, built on the basis of deep understanding and experience of Korea’s natural environment and its mountains and streams. Even when discussing its framework, the structure and shape of the hanok are different from Western-style aesthetics. These differences derive from the selection of the materials. The basic materials for hanoks are paper, soil, stone, and wood. Rice straw and roof tiles are also used. The use of these materials is contrary to Western stone architecture which is decorated, crafted, and cut by humans. This is because, as mentioned in the beginning, Western philosophy is based on reason and knowledge, whereas Eastern philosophy is based on life. In other words, hiddenness and humility is the basis of oriental beauty: pursuing natural curves rather than straight lines, clumsiness over sophistication, moderation instead of sharpness, and simplicity and humility in place of extravagance. This is commonly referred to as classical beauty, a simple and humble beauty, or an aesthetic of modesty. This sense of beauty was highly revered especially in South Korea, back when the ideology of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism(儒佛仙) dominated the nation. The artist was once trapped at Soswaewon (瀟灑園 : the Garden of the Joseon Dynasty located in Damyang-gun, Jeollanam-do) in Damyang for a while during a heavy snowfall. He discovered the lines and structures of a hanok amidst the land covered in white snow as the night passed by and dawn came. At that moment, a thought came into his mind: “This is it!” The line and structure of the house he discovered through this unintentional and unavoidable experience of being trapped in Mother Nature clearly approached him as some kind of life form. That is, in the midst of the earth bathed in warm white hues and the silence of heaven and earth, the artist was struck by the elegant lines of the roof made of tile colonnades, pillars, and beams bearing the traces of time, as well as the rafters and podiums that are surprisingly freewheeling yet retain the rhythm of nature in an orderly manner, and the innocent foundation stones which had naturally settled in the wall. He realized these elements created the simple, humble, and classical aesthetic of the hanok. In fact, Korean traditional houses are not self-proclaiming, standing up at one’s pleasure in a world where the focus is on livelihood and color. The traditional Korean house looks like a part of nature: the roof is in harmony with the ridge of the mountains at the back; the surrounding mountains and trees in the field in effect become the pillars, beams, and rafters, and the stones embedded in the creek and stream become the podiums and cornerstones. Thus, the elements of the classical beauty of the hanok, which is seemingly humble and invisible, reveal themselves when the earth falls asleep and humans seek emptiness and tranquility. Kim Woo Young did not miss this point; he recognized it by summoning the source of the aesthetic sense of the hanok, which seemed to be buried in nature. That is, the abstract lines separated from the hanok in the screen that he constructed created another formative language. Thus, we approach the deeper order of change, unification, balance, and rhythm of nature, which is not a superficial aspect of the hanok, but the order of nature embedded in the hanok in Kim Woo Young’s abstract lines that are composed through the embodiment of the inner rhythm of Mother Nature. 3. The Exterior (外) – The garden made by the sky Valleys and plains at the moment when the heavens and earth fell into silence due to heavy snowfall, A forest in a bird's eye view at the moment of a blizzard, The sand on the shore at the moment when the wind strokes the seawater The traditional Korean house contains nature in the empty spaces between the buildings. This is because humans must closely integrate with nature, realizing and emphasizing the fact that they are part of it. Thus, unlike Western gardens where humans are regarded as nature’s masters, Korean traditional gardens totally incorporate the rhythm of the sky while recognizing the fact that they are merely small parts of Mother Nature. This can be observed by comparing the fountain in the Western garden with the pond in the Korean garden. The fountain in the Western garden is magnificent; made of ornamental and crafted curves or finely cut straight lines, thereby clearly distinguishing a boundary with the surroundings. Meanwhile, the Korean pond is small, and the boundary with surrounding objects is ambiguous. That is, the pond, which is surrounded by grass, flowers, moss, and trees that seem to have grown unintentionally, does not reveal its existence like the fountain. The pond takes on the appearance of natural entity formed by chance. This inner and outer ambiguity is related to the difference in the concept of time between the East and the West. Time is a kind of sense. Unlike the Western garden, which artificially imitates the form of nature and expresses a segmented temporality, a Korean traditional garden brings the atmosphere of nature into a distant immemorial antiquity. This is because the Eastern concept of time is not perceived as flowing in a straight line like that of the West, but is considered to flow in a twisted and tangled circle. Falling into antiquity can be symbolized as falling into stillness and silence. This experience cuts one off from the world, and therefore, isolates time. This oriental concept of time is implied in Kim Woo Young’s natural landscape photography. And this makes his work different from ordinary landscape photography. That is, the works, including “Valleys and plains at the moment when the heavens and the earth fell into silence due to heavy snowfall,” “A forest in a bird's eye view at the moment of a blizzard,” and “The sand on the shore at the moment when the wind strokes the seawater,” which contain both the dead and living modes of nature, reflect nature’s eternity—namely, the subtlety, depth, and expanse of life itself. By reflecting on these fundamentals of nature, we may be able to bury that love that causes us to be worried sick, the restraint that is too difficult to endure, and the desire which is difficult to turn down, into a depth of silence, at least for a moment.

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