I ‘just’ taped the streaming American flag because it was beautiful.
I ‘just’ put the narration, “The wind blows” because the wind blew.
I ‘just’ put the subtitle, “The wind blows” because the audience could not understand Korean.
I ‘just’ degenerated the image through the process of taping, print-out and photocopy.
It ‘just’ created a new context by combining 1, 2, 3 and 4.
-Writings from the artist’s note
Ha Joon-Soo is currently interested in revealing the concept of digital video media in a systematic way. Like many artists who use video as their medium, he, too, exploits a simple process in which objects are chosen arbitrarily, videotaped, and played on a screen. He does not use a subjective or sentimental approach towards his images and media but keeps an objective, sober-minded distance, much like an experienced surgeon does to his or her patient.
He analyzes the process itself, classifies image data according to media used, and recombines the broken fragments. The images of a fluttering flag thus recreated put new meaning into places where the original data are rendered less meaningful. The media he uses for playing or output are a variety of products manufactured by multinational business giants, and the result is significantly different versions of the same image. These differing results show that media experts understand the unique functions of each machine, using them carefully for their own special purpose. Ha’s work raises a sensitive question about the origins of the final form we see as a visual image.
Just, 2002. digital video projection, projection on the wall, DVD player, projector, amplifier, speakers. 7 min
Fetish, 2002. digital video projection, projection on the wall, DVD player, projector, amplifier, speakers. 20 min
Courtesy of the artist
