This thesis functions as an observation of the various changes in the human body. I aim to study a finite existence to reveal incompleteness and expressions of the uncanny as present in my work from 2018 until 2020. I examine wounds and changes in the...
This thesis functions as an observation of the various changes in the human body. I aim to study a finite existence to reveal incompleteness and expressions of the uncanny as present in my work from 2018 until 2020. I examine wounds and changes in the body. These changing processes each leave their mark and it is these marks that become important themes within the work. I materialize them as to reveal transients of organic materials by accepting a change of material in the work itself.
I question the distinction of being complete and face up to the changes of the object, which has fallen short of its standard. I also reveal the decomposition processes of physical work overtime to induce feelings of the uncanny. Decomposition is easily regarded as a negative process and state. However, I consider it to be a change of the state that happens to the finite existence.
The main motivation to use the human body in my works was from personal experience with body transformation, which at the time made me very uncomfortable. This strange feeling made me muse upon the concept of a body part no longer belonging to me. Then, I realized that my body cannot be fully controlled by myself, even though the body is a physical form of human beings. In this study, the physical body gets influenced by its surroundings, and this causes great and small marks on the body. The wrinkles of aging skin are an example of an external change in the body. Bone spurs in the works represent the internal change of the body that has not been revealed on the outside yet.
Likewise, the incomplete state of the body means two things. Firstly, it refers to the changing state of the injury itself. Secondly, it refers to the changing body due to the injury. An example of this first concept is the acquirement of a scar and the healing process of this scar afterwards. The second concept is the state of the body getting scars. These two concepts tell us that the physical body is in fact subject to constant change. When one regards the former state of the injured body as being a perfect original form, then the changed form of the injured body would be deemed insufficient and incomplete. However, these instances present a different state of the object in a process of change. One does not start with a perfect original form and end up with an incomplete one. From this perspective, the physical body becomes a place where changes occur, as it does within my work. In these works, the skin of the body represents a connective border between the inside and outside world as it is a surface that protects the physical object. I study the flesh present underneath the skin, which is one of the elements that composes the body. On the other hand, a repulsive feeling towards the transformation of the body is explained by the state that a subject has been converted to, and being rejected to exist. In my works, the cuts of flesh are to remind the viewer of the physical body and the change of forms that bodies go through during decomposition.
Moreover, organic matters meet death, causing a grotesque transformation, which is materialized in the works. I accept a change of material in the works since the artwork does not need to maintain a perfect state. The sewing is to suture wounds in the works, but the time I spent in sewing disappears as the sewed object breaks down in a short time to suggest the transience of the object. The sewing is just a medium to maintain the form of the structure and the thread remains at last as a trace of changes.
In this study, I consider an incomplete object including wounds to be an object involving potential changes without negative judgment. Furthermore, the object becomes evidence to reveal the existence itself. My works deal with a change of the object and its traces to question the meaning given to the object. I believe a change will result in a new state of being and will result in the production of sustainable artworks by reflecting on these changing states of diverse objects.