8
WEEK RESTART {2006} dialogue |
GG:
Is the experimentation that inspires the work as important as the result
of the work? SK: The result of the work, to me, should reflect the essence of its process and experimentation. So if the process and experimentation is the primary element, the result of the work, which is the documentation/residue of the process, is secondary element. The “end result”, however, could also change to become part of a subsequent act of experimentation again. A note on finished work: I treat these pieces as exercises, which is why I did not feel the importance of finishing the work in the first place. I use them as stepping-stones in order to move swiftly onwards. When I feel that it has done enough to make its point or serve its purpose, finishing just for the sake of it would seem to me as too much. GG: What do you know about the purpose of those commas? SK: I see the commas and rests as small pockets of threshold. Like pauses and rests in musical scores that are considered as important as the notes, these commas are breathing points, areas of reflection, areas of anticipation. To me, they hold a lot of activity and carry a lot of energy, just like how silence can actually be very loud. GG: Sounds like you are trying to get to the place of meaningless…. Where the meaning becomes unknown. SK: I am not really trying to get anywhere with these, at least for now. I don’t have a destination for them. I am actually trying to find a clear path through the work. Here, the path is the transition from one piece of work to another. I think unknown meaning is different from meaningless. I am actually driven by the unknown meaning, even within the simple and familiar things in nature. I believe that everything happens for a reason, which makes everything meaningful. What seem random and arbitrary to me are those that draw me to start my investigation in the first place. I see all these steps (transitioning from one investigation to another) as different formulae that could come out from one form/thought to another. There is a great deal of getting lost in the midst of it, but I feel that it’s okay, and it’s actually quite exciting to not know what to anticipate. It all feels like walking a journey. I have my own assumptions about the other end of the walk, but I’d rather not think too hard about it. DK: So in essence [you create] situations dictated by chance, and find meaning in chance... A dialogue with chance? SK: Yes. And I do so by setting up scenarios for it to happen. GG: What happens with the circle? Why does it end? Why not continue infinitely? SK: When I said I set up scenarios, it involves setting rules and certain tools/devices within which the dialogue takes place. In the case of this circle drawing, it ended because the preconditions have been fulfilled. GG: Do you continue with the circle as a starting point? It seems that the best decision would be to continue from the last result instead of starting a new one. SK: Yes, I agree that starting where I left off is probably the best decision, but because my focus isn't on the product, what I learn through the last piece may not be something visible to the audience. Most often times what we look for are visual connections.. so picking up from the last physical object I left off with may sometimes be the case for me, but at other times, I think the transition is something less tangible, and more personal. DK: How do you know when to stop or when to move on? SK: Depending on the rules, the agreements, and the scenario I set up for myself, I stop when… say, materials run out, space runs out, energy runs out, time runs out, natural system changes, or simply when a point is made through the piece. I usually move on without the intension or really realizing it. I just carry on with whatever I already started doing. DK: Where as in your older work seems to be just about you talking, [your newer work] engages in a dialogue with something outside yourself. It partakes in a dialogue that you talk, and chance talks back. |
Chautauqua:
dialogue |