FIGHT FOR SPACE, 2019
Seoul, South Korea
“Go is not a closed game.”
Go, is essentially the fight for space on a grid system of endless possibilities of placings - one against another. How the game is played, and the pace at which it occurs differ, however, we chase after the same inherent result – to own territory.
This project focuses on three main concepts: the space, time, and people. It touches upon the overarching theme of fighting for space through multiple works, ranging from how I interpret the flow in society, to the much talked about anxiety of AI, as well as gaining freedom, fighting for your space.
Placement, the first of three series, specifically relates to space in society and time, each candle as a metaphor for an individual.
The candles were placed and lit according to the placement and the same timespeed of the fourth Go game (featuring the "Divine" move) between Lee Saedol and Alpha Go. Melting at different speeds, I was able to document the process as the work progressed.
The final outcome was a topographic-like landscape of candles of different heights. The mixing of black and white wax created bonds outside their ‘boundary’, expressing the integration between people in society, each spreading out to find their own territory.
Go Stone on terminology plinth, is an enlarged glass go stone placed on a plinth, eliminating the element of colour, and hence, sides that exist in the game. The weight of the object itself and the magnifying element emphasises the significance of each placement on the Go board.
The terminology plinth on which the go stone is placed on, is graphically designed serving to represent some of the many terms that are used in Go, and that are also widely used in daily life in Korean society. Each term describes a position on the board, which can be reinterpreted to describe social situtions that people are faced in. For example, 호구 (hogu) translates to someone being a pushover; and 미생 (misaeng) meaning ‘incomplete life’.
Cimon, is a video experimentation on the notion of the fear of AI, the unruly uncomfort in the competition we are faced with, and the differing pace in which humans and AI are developing.
When immersed in the space, the alternating offbeat black and white screen, makes you feel a sense of uncertainty of when the next ‘move’ is going to be, while Cimon, the AI scorns at you in between. At times, with the timelapse spanning for a long period, and at others, changing in a blink of a second, the flashing space, questions a sense of unease and anxiety.