Triumph of the Will 2006
Silent Reflection of Scars on Group Photos
The strong contrast between the clean skin and a pierced wound on it causes a certain artificial awkwardness. The grave atmosphere of the interior made by antiques and a nude woman inside of it; we are familiar with this neo-classical structure. However, the texture of cracked skin brings this conventional scene an unnatural fissure. This is what <Lost in Desire>(2004) looks like. The series was so impressive that the scars on sensual body of woman became to represent Kwak Yun Joo’s artworks. Moreover, the title matches with the form of nude back of a woman and the narrow pierced wound on her skin. Maybe I misconstrued the work, whatever. However, the artist says that the desire of her work has nothing to do with psychoanalytic interpretation of it as people would easily think of. Like this, people often misunderstand Kwak Yun Joo. When it comes to the desire, “normal” society has a “standard.” Neoclassical structure and white and clean body of woman make a standard combination. However, chopping this perfect canvas of desire with a knife, Kwak Yun Joo frustrates the normal expectation of people.
In Kwak’s last works, she used to cause misunderstandings from normal interpreters of artworks. The series <Triumph of the Will>(2006) is an example. When people see the title only, they would think of works with a political inclination, Fascism, specifically. Moreover, the artist even said that she borrowed the title from the political propaganda, <Triumph des Willens>(1935), Leni Riefenstahl’s film. However, the fact that the artist used the title of this documentary film of the 1930s does not have much to do with the structure or contents of it. She simply chose the title from the impression of it. What it reminded her matched with her impression of young dancers whom she had been observing for months. The artist also said that she influenced by Riefenstahl’s idea of the chronicle of an individual will. However, it is not easy for us to infer the theme from the group portrait photo of young dancers without any explanation. The plain speaking title <Triumph of the Will> would not help us interpret the work. The stiff poses of dancers, what do they have to do with ‘triumph of the will?’ The difficulties of reading will be followed by another misapprehension.
Triumph of the Will_3, 100 x 80cm, Light-jet print, 2006
<The Korean Dance Girls>(2006) made at the beginning of this year is a study which became the sketch of <Triumph of the Will>. Compared to the two works mentioned above, the work has more close connection with its title. The artist took so many profile bust shots of the Korean young dancers and the work was born. Even though the title shows what the contents are, audiences cannot have much interest in the work because of this conformation, ironically. Maybe the artist’s intention was unstably caught in the frame which is full of bust shots. In addition, looking at the repeated bust shots of dance girls of <The Korean Dance Girls>, I can find a point of connection to the other works, <Lost in Desire> and <Triumph of the Will>. Heavy makeup of the girls’ faces is as unnatural and grotesque as the deep scar of <Lost in Desire>. Also, the both erase the identities of objects. Because of the makeup, faces of young dancers in traditional costume become anonymous. They are only remembered as featureless dancers by audiences because of the makeup as individualities of headless seminude women of <Lost in Desire> are replaced by scars. The artificial makeup make young girls look mature in a very awkward way just like strange scars on the backs of <Lost in Desire>. With the makeup, girls in <The Korean Dance Girls> are between adulthood and puberty. They seem unstable. Like this, artificial scar marks on seminude women in <Lost in desire> also help the work look imperfect.
Individual dancers in <The Korean Dance Girls> get together on a stage under the title of <Triumph of the Will>. <Triumph of the Will> doesn’t feel unfinished like <The Korean Dance Girls>, however, a certain emptiness remains in still shots of dancers which fill the huge surface (123*200). However, if we try to find the connection between the work and <Lost in Desire>, the earlier one, we would easily get lost. In <Triumph of the Will>, there is no specific subject of the ‘will.’ It can be a young girl who stands on stage as a training to be a perfect dancer. Or, it also can be the director(or photographer) who controls and directs dancers in traditional costume as he moves checkers on the chessboard. Kwak Yun Joo might not be familiar with controling other people from the first. However, when she stands in front of the viewfinder, dancers might look as units or elements which constitute the whole picture. Here, we can find the crossing point between the title of the work and the original documentary film, <Triumph des Willens>(1935). At the time when the war clouds hung heavy over Europe, the film carries the will of political leaders and their party. Repeatedly showing the troops lined up in perfect four rows, the film shows the mankind who become the part of general public giving up one’s own individuality, hypnotized by the irrational nationalism. Therefore, the four rows are perfect in forms, but imperfect or even grotesque from humanistic point of view. Like this, the angles of arm positioning and the direction of gaze of dancers in Kwak Yun Joo’s <Triumph of the Will> are unified. The work has the stiffness of the group photo. However, even if the two works have the common features, Kwak Yun Joo does not have the Fascist will that Riefenstahl tried to show. Her control of the dancers is contemporary. This also would be the point where people might misunderstand her.
There is a secret story behind the work. Kwak Yun Joo had lost hearing when she was 6 and gained part of it through surgery 12 years later. Now, she cannot hear everything or nothing; her hearing is between perfection and imperfection. Seminude female models in <Lost in Desire> who attract people with pulchritude and provoke their feeling of rejection at the same time with vizarre scars on their body, dancers between adults and young girls because of unnatural heavy makeup in <The Korean Dance Girls>, and the awkward stage of dancers in <Triumph of the Will> who pursue the perfect combination; they correspond with Kwak’s state of mind. Kwak Yun Joo feels sympathy with the models in these three series. They also represent the artist herself. Scar marks, heavy makeups, and the perfect lining; through the different mediations, the artist put the self-pity in characters. People might think that her recent works are ‘dance documentary photos’ because of the lack of coherence between the mediations. However this is a misconception. She has always been framed by many misunderstandings. This might have something to do with her style of work showing her position in absorption standing at the middle point between perfection and imperfection_Ban E Jung, Art Critic
