The time has slipped by and now, it is closer to the end of semester than we are from the beginning of semester. It means winter vacation is coming up for some students but for some others, it means that the end of their 4 years of university life is approaching. To celebrate the end of the university years, there are many graduation exhibitions on CAU’s Anseong campus. Among these exhibitions, it was the department of sculpture’s graduation that CAH covered this time. Let’s talk about the students’ various sculptures which are the results of their efforts over the past 4 years!
1. What is Special About the Graduation Exhibition of the Department of Sculpture?
People usually have a typical image of graduation exhibitions of universities. That image is that all seniors’ works are displayed in one place. But, through this display system, not every student’s work can show its attraction and the students’ efforts. However, CAU’s department of sculpture was different. The entire senior exhibition was not displayed in just one area, but every student had their own space. This was a way to show their talents completely and give a chance to get the recognition they deserve. For this change, the department made the best use of its big building. It made a gallery by using the lobby and spare small spaces. Thus the gallery named ’SPACE 1984’ was born. Although it took a lot of time and money, it was a valuable investment for the students’ development. As a result, students could experience exhibitions that they had designed with their own themes.
2. Hidden Stories of Sculptures
1) Circulation of Material: Interview With Choi Han-june
The theme of his work is circulation. He wants to express a material which has an energy that varies regularly and circulates in nature, although it seems to vary disorderly through his work. He also wants to deliver a message that every material in the world only changes its shape and location and shares many parts with each other to construct nature. While he prepared for his show, he said he worried about how he could express circulation effectively. Therefore he focused on showing circulation by moving iron shavings. He said he doesn’t expect a big reaction, but he just wants people to be surprised and interested in his work.
The most difficult thing to him while he was preparing his works was to give concrete forms to his idea. For expressing circulation, he had to make his works go and move. It would be easy for some people but it was really difficult to him because he had no idea about what kind of technology was needed. So he learned these skills by watching videos on the Internet by himself. Lastly, he said he wants to be an artist who can make ordinary people come to his exhibitions. He wants to make work that everybody can enjoy with ease.
2) Invisible Substance: Interview With Younn Jae-hyun
She decided upon her exhibition’s theme from her old habit of carrying around blankets. When she was young, she used to share a room with her older brother. So at first, she had her own room, she was really unfamiliar with staying alone. She felt the room was too big and scary. At that time, rubbing blankets with her foot made her feel relaxed and calm. By rubbing her foot on the soft blanket, she could create her own virtual space, such as a protective coat. She held this show because she wants to share her memory of the experience with other people. She wants her work to make people feel fun and be interested. As she realized that art works are interesting, while she studied art in university, she wants to make ordinary people feel the same through her work.
‘The Room of Seung-gyeong’ which is one of her main works is more than 2 meters high, so she had to make it in kit form to move it into the building. However she had no knowledge of construction engineering so it was really hard work for her. In addition, as she had used glass mirrors and acrylic mirrors for the work, she had to fray her nerves not to make scratches on the mirrors. She said one of sculpture’s attractions is that you can pass the limits of a flat surface and use various textures in your work. In conclusion, she said she wants to be an artist who can let people find beauty and interest inside her work.
3) Artificial Sun: Interview With Lee Sang-yeop
He realized that many people believe artificial things are real from his daily experiences. Therefore he minimized the process of the world turning artificial and put the miniature of the process into his works. To express his intention, he borrows the image of Sun in Plato’s analogy of the cave. He said he thinks it is important to allow people to participate in his works. So he used laser beams in his work on purpose. Whenever people pass by, they block the laser beams and influence his work unconsciously. He hopes people will have time to think about modern society which is made up of artificial things through his work.
He had trouble with economic problems during the process of preparing the show because every student had to make their show at their own expense. He could overcome physical and mental fatigue through the expectation for the exhibition but the lack of money made him frustrated. He also said that he wants to do a range of art work which include criticism of artificial society in the future.
University graduation exhibitions have different attractions from the exhibitions of artists of established fame, because there is uniqueness and pure passion of the young artists. One tip to enjoying the graduation exhibition is to think about the student’s efforts from the art works. If you think about their efforts, you cannot just pass up the displayed work. Why don’t you visit the graduation exhibitions and cheer for their future?