left: Hurrah! ,right: A Day in Namsan 2009
wall installation with ground coffee, each 200x500cm, 500x400cm
Namsan(Nam Mountain) in Seoul has a series of statues erected to revive the spirit destroyed by the japanese colonial rule, among them are the statues of Paik Bum Kim Gu, Doctor Jungkeun Ahn. These statues are the main motif of Lee's artworks. The statues symbolize the liberation of the Republic of Korea. Ironically the sculpture of these statues is said to have done some pro-japanese acts so there is an endless debate about the removal of these statues. The artist expresses this situation, making the statues with ground coffee, an inappropriate material for sculpture from the traditional point of view. Ground coffee express fleetingness and fragility, and from a sociopolitical stand, it is an object of exploitation by the giant corporations. The intention of the shadow effect made by ground coffee is to inquire about the duality and permanency that the statue possesses.
Copyright (c) 2010 Changwon Lee. All rights reserved.