Through a combination of Flatland(2008), whose title is named after Edwin A. Aboott's novel, and Escape, composed of grass
and neon, I addresses the contradictory aspect of life, dealing with our oppressed life and human instincts toward freedom.
Flatland is made of cubes equipped with sensors that move following lines on the floor. A LEGO cube box with a metal string hung
from the ceiling endlessly rotates following a circular line on the floor. The metal wire linking the ceiling and the cube box is symbolic
of contemporary humans and is a medium that forms a three-dimensional space when the cube rotates. This work ranges from
two-dimensional space and thus seems hopeful in that it is not confined to just one dimension. However, it is still restricted by some
form of dimension.
Work metadata
- Year Created: 2008
- Submitted to ArtBase: Saturday Feb 11th, 2012
- Original Url: http://www.ksinae.pe.kr/flatland/flatland.htm
-
Work Credits:
- sinaekim, primary creator
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Artist Statement
Through a combination of Flatland(2008), whose title is named after Edwin A. Aboott's novel, and Escape, composed of grass
and neon, I addresses the contradictory aspect of life, dealing with our oppressed life and human instincts toward freedom.
Flatland is made of cubes equipped with sensors that move following lines on the floor. A LEGO cube box with a metal string hung
from the ceiling endlessly rotates following a circular line on the floor. The metal wire linking the ceiling and the cube box is symbolic
of contemporary humans and is a medium that forms a three-dimensional space when the cube rotates. This work ranges from
two-dimensional space and thus seems hopeful in that it is not confined to just one dimension. However, it is still restricted by some
form of dimension.
" we escape from a two- dimensional prison by entering a two-dimensional world for a while and returning to another two-dimensional
wall. That is why a three dimensional world is spacial . Our four-dimensional time is another substantial dimension but does not
allow us to escape from this world."
- excerpts from the preface of flatland by Edfwin A Abbott
If not for the passage of time, we humans cannot escape from the structures of technology and capitalism that govern our lives,
since we exist in the stream of time in four-dimensional space. Is the possibility to overcome this flow of time desperate, but
simutaneously hopeful? The entrance of Escape set up by Flatland symbolizes freedom from a society oppressed and dominated by
a single value and a move to a world of new values. At a glance, this work seems contradictory . "it;s not possible to escape
from a completely controlled society. There is no exit. We are living in unrest, exitlessness, and our ideality has vanished into
emptiness despaite our ardent wishes. In this crisis where we have entirely lost our humanity, we remain isolated and alienated.
AN existential life in which we become the subject is impossible in this society."