This thesis explores the expression of “in-between” affected by the physical properties of Han-ji and glass, which are the main materials used in my works from 2018 to the present. The main purpose of this research is to analyze the development pr...
This thesis explores the expression of “in-between” affected by the physical properties of Han-ji and glass, which are the main materials used in my works from 2018 to the present. The main purpose of this research is to analyze the development process and results of each work while considering their aesthetic and art historical significance based on the motivation, theme, and formative consciousness of the works.
The works that are the subject of this study have been expanded into various forms of art, such as painting, sculpture, and installation, through physical experience and sensory intuition, with a focus on hanji and glass. In my paintings, I explored the affect between subjects metaphorically represented as painting elements, and in my sculptures and installations, I explored the sense of “in-between” through the physical properties of Han-ji as a painting medium and physicality, and the immateriality and materiality of glass.
In my work, “in-between” is a concept that is embodied in form, content, and materials. Formally, ink and color, divergence and division, intentionality and chance coexist, and materials such as hanji and glass are used to create a fluid form that crosses the boundaries between painting and space. This is an attitude for continuity and creation rather than completion. In terms of content, it is a way of existing in limbo, without defining the self as a single category, based on questions about the self between heterogeneous identities and relationships, such as male and female, self and other, and inside and outside. In terms of materials, “in-between” functions separately or together, revealing the flatness and physicality of Han-ji and the boundaries and transparency of glass. It induces affect in a way that emphasizes their disparate senses while coexisting without hierarchy. These works are in a state of flux, where identity, senses, and relationships are not fixed but interact and renew themselves.
In Chapter II, I lay the theoretical foundation by focusing on the affect that arises from “in-between.” First, I examine the dictionary definitions and theoretical contexts of the concepts of “in-between” and “affect.” After examining the dictionary definitions and universal usage of the concept of “in-between,” I discuss its potential as a conceptual term by comparing it with similar concepts. Next, I clarify the meaning of “in-between” in my work in terms of form, content, and material. I summarize the concept and theoretical background of “affect” and clarify that ‘affect’ is a physical and relational event through its differences from similar concepts. In addition, I consider “in-between” as a way of existence and the aesthetic and social attitude of the creator, and describe that a fluid attitude of affect that is not fixed is an essential element in communicating with materials.
Next, through the theories of Deleuze, Irigaray, and Barad, we interpret “in-between” from three axes: “differences in sensation and surface events,” “inter-subjective relationships,” and “entanglement and agency of matter.” In connection with this, we summarize key concepts such as the tactile sensation of surfaces and events, horizontal materiality, and the agency of matter. It focuses on the creation of “in-between” that occurs in the interaction between senses, relationships, and matter. At the level of the senses, “in-between” is understood as an event on the surface where forces and rhythms reside before the form is completed. This is explained through the process of the occurrence of tactile sensations and affect, focusing on the paintings of Francis Bacon. In terms of relationships, the “in-between” transcends the traditional subject-object structure and transforms into an inter-subjective relationship, explaining the horizontal relationship of tactile senses, including air as an immaterial substance. In terms of materiality, Barad's concept of “inter-action” explains that matter is not a fixed entity but exists in a field of intertwining and reaction, and is a subjective actor that causes affect.
Finally, by analyzing examples in which these concepts are embodied in form, we consider how “in-between” generates sensation and meaning. We examine the collision of events and forces on the surface of two-dimensional paintings through the works of Park Rae-hyun and Lee Krausner, and shed light on the affect between existence and existence through the works of Lee Ufan and Kwak In-sik. Next, I analyze the entanglement of materials and the resulting agency through the works of Ronnie Horn and Anne Veronica Janssen, and describe how the concept of “in-between” is individualized and expressed in various materials, senses, and relationships.
In Chapter III, I focus on my own work to discuss in detail how the concept of “in-between” is embodied.
I analyze the affect of “in-between” that arises from the intersection of forces and tactile sensations through pictorial language such as ink and color, smudging, and compartmentalization. In particular, the boundary where ink and color meet reveals the tension between chance and control, fluidity and fixation. This contact surface is a metaphor for the state of unfixed existence, and I interpret the surface of the painting as a field of tactile reciprocity. It also highlights the unique physical properties and performativity of Han-ji. Hanji is not a simple background, but a material existence that actively interacts with the artist. It illuminates the relationship between invisible flows and affect that occur in the special space-time of the studio and the changing environment, and describes the “in-between” that is formed in the intertwining of immaterial elements such as time, air, and atmosphere. This process is metaphorically expressed through short dialogues. Finally, the sensory intertwining created by various materials centered on glass and the resulting affect are analyzed. Glass functions as a medium that visualizes invisible elements such as light, air, temperature, and humidity, and generates heterogeneous sensations through contact with other materials. The intertwining of materials creates new meanings in the flow of time and actions, and reveals the horizontal relationship between the creator and the material through an open form that departs from the fixed forms of glass and hanji.
Chapter IV describes the physical properties of these materials and the production process in detail. It describes the techniques of dyeing and coloring using a mixture of hanji and hwasunji, the application of physical properties in the process of making hanji pieces, the expandability of performance into murals and three-dimensional works, the tactile visuality of various glass materials and points to note when using them, and the methods of bonding hanji and glass and the adhesives used. It also introduces the installation of Han-ji pieces, the bonding of resin and beeswax, the production of frames for glass installations, and installation methods, providing practical production information.
The affect of the “in-between” formed through heterogeneity and harmony mediated by the physical properties of hanji and glass expands the boundaries of painting and installation and embodies sensory experiences in a sculptural form. It also captures the intertwining, affect, and invisible flow between materials, critically deconstructing traditional sculptural language and subject-centered discourse, and has the potential to reflect relational ontology and neo-materialistic sensibility. Furthermore, the material context where the tradition of hanji and the modernity of glass intersect is closely connected to contemporary social issues such as identity, boundaries, gender, and ecology, and is significant in that it encourages reflection on the relationships between humans and non-humans, subjects and others.
Looking at the “in-between” means recognizing the points of boundary and connection and existing as the boundary itself. This means not leaning toward either side of a dichotomous structure, but horizontally accepting both relatedness and separation, identification and individualization, and aiming for a state of existence that is constantly changing and affected, rather than a fixed identity. This is my desire as a creator to be flexible in my actions and acceptance of materials.