JEONG JEONG-JU

Lacan explains scotoma as the “consciousness of the subject” experienced through gaze. As expressed in the phrase “I see myself seeing myself,” the concept of gaze indicates the sensation that I am seen by the object I see, and it is similar to the form of light spurting out toward me from the object in my sight. Lacan describes this light as casting a dark shadow, or scotoma, in my eye.

In Gaze, two projectors move along a long rail while facing each other from opposite ends. In real time each projector projects on the wall in front of it the video taken by the video camera installed with it. The video camera installed with each projector stares at the light spilling out of the projector on the opposite side and at the same time spews its attention onto the projector on the opposite side. The image of moving toward and away from the opposite projector while spewing out light metaphorically expresses the relationship between the ‘I’ that sees and the ‘I’ that is seen by the other.

In Five Living Rooms, the living rooms of the apartments of the artist’s friends are filmed using a revolving camera and these videos are shown in random mixture with the video of the artist’s own apartment living room. In Living Room, a model of the artist’s apartment living room is constructed and five monitors are installed on its walls. Each monitor shows a video that recounts the hurt or stress caused by people closest to the artist, such as family members or friends, and the artist’s reaction to such stress.

The light and gaze within space and the movement expressed through these works are metaphors for complex emotions such as unfamiliarity, anxiety, curiosity, intimacy, and fear that arise between the ‘I’ and the ‘other,’ a scotoma formed through the everyday life experienced by the artist.