In Active Anesthesia, I attempt to scrutinize the active against the passive. Anesthesia is a dominating force which occurs in our daily lives, although we may not be conscious of it, and leaves our senses numb. Many times this occurs because we passively take in information that is dictated to us by the media. This is connected to the concept of “hot” and “cold” media described by communications theorist Marshall McLuhan. According to McLuhan “hot” media stresses one of the senses over the others, with examples including film and photographs. “Cool” media require more active participation on the part of the individual due to the use of abstract patterning and inclusion of multiple senses, like television and cartoons. I now believe that television has now become “hot” due to it’s over popularity and our dependency upon it for everything for all of our information. Thus my aim is to take traditional “hot” mediums and “cool” them down through manipulating them through abstraction and making the viewer take on a more participatory role in understanding what is presented. This brings activity to that which was formerly considered passive. This is what I consistently strive to achieve in my work.
Light is the least repressed fraction in entities since it is almost immaterial and whatever we see is the reflection of the light, not the thing itself. I use light because it represents the potential materiality of video as a medium to embody the notion of Active anesthesia. Through dividing, gathering and eliminating emanated lights from different video sources, the lights become active forms in my works. Similarly, I may incorporate sound into my work; lowering it to between 40 and 50 HZ, close to the lowest frequency heard by humans, 30HZ. Through this I actively engage the viewer through another use of their senses. My investigations go beyond a limit of physical components and search for harmony in an immaterial condition. These are my efforts to illuminate the concept of activeness through exploring various anesthetic environments.
Kim is a native of Seoul, South Korea. He received his BFA from Seoul National University and his MFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York, NY. Selected solo shows include: Galeria do Lago at the Museu de Republica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Oct. 2007); The Riccardo Crespi Gallery, Milan, Italy (Sept. 2007); Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany; and ARCO Art Center-Arts Council Korea, Seoul, Korea. Selected group shows include: Today Art Museum, Beijing, China; Singapore Biennale (2006), Singapore; Analog Animation at The Drawing Center, New York, NY and Macy Gallery at Columbia University, New York, NY. He has been awarded fellowships and grants from Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; The Pollack Krasner Foundation; Jerome Foundation; Smack Mellon; and Skowhegan Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. His work is represented in the collections of the Queens Museum of Art; Queens, NY; ALTOIDS Curiously Strong Collection at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY; and Arts Council Korea. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.