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Time, Memory and Existence

Seok Cheol Ji, Seok Cheol Ji2002

Korean Art Museum Association

Korean Art Museum Association
Seoul, South Korea

There is a chair, barely hung from a rusty horizontal bar, and stones that were abandoned. The memorable scene with the horizon delivers a hopeful message through the chair, although we live a lonely life.

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  • Title: Time, Memory and Existence
  • Creator: Ji, Seok Cheol
  • Creator Lifespan: 1953
  • Creator Nationality: Korean
  • Creator Birth Place: Masan, Korea
  • Date Created: 2002
  • Physical Dimensions: w467 x h590 cm
  • Type: Painting
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Artist's Note: Ever since I painted on drawing paper in my childhood, my dream has been to be a painter. The blue ocean of South Port and the deep green mountains are pictures in themselves. They penetrate into my mere childish emotion. The sky and earth fill with the beauty of a lively sunshine. Even a trifling thing like nature becomes art in my blazing heart. As time goes by, the sound of the sea from my hometown remains in my memory as a lyric. My thoughts are lost within the existence of dim memories. There stands a car, humble and tumbledown, scarcely bracing itself on the vast ocean. The aftermath of innumerable chairs poured into this space is plaintive and lonesome, like the trifling existence of human beings. Many people must have passed this land, their nonexistence is present in the empty chairs that someone had sat on and left. No matter what left us - time, memory or reminiscence - I want to speak about humanity. The metaphor of the chair symbolizes the interior landscape we lost. Symbols like: the stones, the old used car found at a countryside farmhouse, the stove from gloomy days, the fallen leaves all wilted and the traces of our heroes, form a metaphorical reality with the unnoticeable mini chair symbol. The desolate scene of the ocean is nature-surpassing reality. The rendezvous of the mini chair and nature is a longing for existence beyond reality. And though human life is solitary and lonely, it may be that the mini chair icon evokes dreams of delight and hope for life over the mountain.
  • Artist's Education: Hongik University. M.F.A., Painting.
Korean Art Museum Association

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