Retinal Chain Reaction

FOCUS Art Fair London 2024

Saatchi Gallery

London, UK

Collaboration with Studio SMA

2024

In the past, religion, politics, and ethical ideologies became the central values ​​of society and united people. But today, the central values ​​that people share are collapsing, and the hierarchy of all values ​​has disappeared and become relativized. The way we understand the world is also becoming fragmented, and media algorithms are accelerating this phenomenon. This is because it acquires the content I frequently seek out and consume and filters the information in a sophisticated way to strengthen it. This obscures the existence of people with different viewpoints or thoughts and makes us believe that only people with common opinions are the mainstream. In other words, the world has become one where I can believe whatever I want to believe. However, this phenomenon ultimately further isolates me as my ostracism, hatred, and acceptance of people with different viewpoints decrease.

This work was carried out using the cathedral's pipe organ as a motif. In an architectural space that spreaded the central ideology of society, the organ allows people to experience the world of God visually, auditorily, and tactilely. Unlike other instruments, the organ produces sound only when the pedals are pressed hard. In other words, it requires continuous external power. Also, rather than a single note being played, a bunch of pipes produce a collective sound. 

These attributes are metaphorically connected to the existence of those who produce and consume content from a specific perspective, that is, the power aspect, and reveal the collectivity that forms their own fragmented and fragile community. Furthermore, the media platforms where their play is experienced are religious spaces that form the center of their own fragmented world, like cathedrals of the past.

The works comprise bundles whose scale is difficult to estimate, creating a spectacle. These are a collection of elements that occupy a very deep and large space and have many textures, but they become flat images and do not reveal their complexity. It appears simple because it was constructed from a specific perspective. It's as if all the images and events we consume every day are actually very complex, but are the result of being cut from a specific perspective. Even now, somewhere, someone continues to perform his or her performance that no one will ever hear.

-Studio SMA