First published on 13 July 2023
The Interpreter: Han Lee
Han Lee's solo exhibition The Interpreter at Gallery THEO (21 July–18 August 2023) seeks to explore and answer the question of how nature and humans communicate.
Every moment of every day we are in contact with nature, but we are not always aware that nature is trying to tell us a story. We live in a world of many languages, but the languages we can actually understand are very limited. This creates communication barriers between people. So how can we overcome the linguistic barrier and achieve a dialog with nature?
The Interpreter, which is also the name of the exhibition, aims to explore and answer these questions. Through his work, the artist shows that in order to communicate, the chaotic and vast series of incoming signals from the other object must be arranged in the right order to create a clear meaning that can be properly understood. To this end, the work at the front plays the role of an interpreter, showing how the lights scattered without order on the floor of the exhibition hall, are supposed to be arranged. In this way, the artist is saying through this exhibition that nature already gives us enough messages, but if we do not understand how to communicate with it, they are just chaotic little lights that we don't understand.
Modern society is already experiencing a clash of cultures and customs, as well as different languages through globalization, and the conflicts that arise from this can be seen in our daily lives as means of communication such as the internet and social media become more diverse. The Interpreter presents one answer to the question of how to communicate with nature, but its meaning can be expanded to a way to establish an order for communication through mutual understanding based on our consciousness and perception. so what about the time and location of the exhibition, where the purpose is relatively blurred?
Han Lee is a multidisciplinary designer and new media artist based in New York City. Since first gaining attention for his interactive art on the web, he has showcased his work around the world as a new media artist, including New York, Seoul, Jeju Island, Gwangju, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Jerusalem, and Haifa. His works, which provide an immersive and playful experience for audiences to emotionally engage with, have been selected in collaborative exhibitions with large corporations such as SK, LG, and Samsung, as well as at the Seoul Arts Center, Suwon Museum of Art, and the world's largest annual international media art symposium organized by ISEA and Art Center Nabi at the ACC (Asian Cultural Center) in Korea.
