Artistic Ambivalence In Clay PDF Download

This practiceled research explores the use of locally sourced clay as a primary artistic material when working through issues connected to global displacement. These issues include foreignness, unstable identities, and cultural isolation. My own position as a Korean and international artist informs this research while highlighting the problematic realities associated with national identity, territory, and notions of 'home'. Ritualistic and performative actions demonstrate clay to be a tool for engagement. These actions are expressed as repetitive actions that are culturally informed, along with live performances and performance for camera across both sculptural installations and mixed media, all of which prioritize an interaction with local clay. In these works, actions place emphasis on a present and participatory audience and find new ways to use the human body as a tool and an artistic material. These works are particularly (but not exclusively) aimed to engage an audience with a third cultured background, that is, those with experience of more than one culture. My primary method is the physical analysis of clay emphasising its tactile qualities. It is important that I source the clay in the location in which I perform the artwork in order to generate a sense of familiarity and connection with the 'bedrock' of a lived experience that represents 'home'. Drawing on contemporary theories of performativity and the body (Amelia Jones, Elisabeth Grosz) and on the specific body of knowledge of Korean ritualistic actions, including folk beliefs and the traditional skills of Korean ceramicists (Eun Bum Lee, Hyang Jong Oh), and theories of cultural displacement (Homi Bhaba, Trinh T Minh-ha, Yi-fu Tuan). Likewise, the artistic context of this research references artists from the 1970s, such as Ana Mendieta, Stuart Brisley, and the Gutai group. Through exploring participatory public artworks, this research aims to influence the audience's' experience of public space.