Homework 1: New Media Artist

Yeondoo Jung

Born in Jinju, Korea in 1969, Jung still lives and works in Seoul, Korea. One of the most prominent artists working in Korea today, Jung graduated College of Fine Arts, Seoul National University in 1994 with BFA in sculpture. In 1995, he received his Diploma in Sculpture from Central Saint Martine College of Art, London Institute. Then, he attended Goldsmiths College where he got his MFA  in 1997. 

Jung refers to himself as an "visual artist" instead of a photographer or a filmmaker. The artist has garnered global attention for his artworks in the fields of photography, painting, sculpture, film and installation art that break down the barrier between reality and fantasy. Jung is the youngest person ever to be named the Artist of the Year by the National Museum of Contemporary Art Korea and the second Korean artist, following Baek Nam-joon, to have his media work be screened and collected by the Museum of Modern Art New York.
The below are his artworks and short descriptions of them. 

This is one of his earlier works. It is a series of photograph titled Evergreen Tower (2001). It deals with the paradox of urban growth. Evergreen Tower is an apartment block in Seoul, Korea. Jung visited 32 homes and shot portraits of the occupant family in the living room of each. As pointed out by the artist, modern Seoul is drawing in all kinds of people from across the country, and mass production of standardized apartment blocks provide shelter for these nuclear families.

Evergreen Tower (2001) is one large piece consisting of several images.
When the images are viewed individually, they should be considered as detail views of the work.

The architectural structure of the living rooms is identical; only the families and the interior decorations they choose set them apart from one another. As Jung says in his artist statement for the work, this ”series of photographs, which share uncanny similarities due to the architectural structure of the building” emphasizes “the individual and visible differences between the lives of each of the families”. His “intention is to contrast the individual lives of the nuclear families with the mass-produced houses of Seoul city”. The images above are from a series of 20 photographs titled Bewitched (2001). These photographs recreate the dreams of adolescents that Jung has met in cities around the world. Similar to Bewitched (2001) is his another series of photographs called Wonderland (2005). I Want to Be a Singer. c-print 2004 Miss Sparkle Sprinkles the Magic c-print 2005 Sleeping Beauty c-print 2004 Over a four-month period Jung collected 1, 200 drawings from children ranging in age between 5 and 7. From this collection of children’s drawing he selected seventeen to be made into photographic replicas of each child’s drawing. Wonderland is a photographic series that simultaneously shares the child’s fantasy and Jung’s photographic reality. By using adults as the “characters” of his photographic tableaux, Jung hopes that these images will simultaneously express a child’s view of an adult world, and visa versa. I think both Bewitched (2001) and Wonderland (2005) can be great lesson plans for any youngster, adolescent and adult. I thought not just digital cameras but also photoshop might be used in creating such images.