In the art school, one can find the students who carry around small drawing books as if those are the valuable treasures and doodle on them all the time . Since their treasure books are usually unfolded during classes, it was not difficult to look into those books and what they have done. As the minutely filled pages are turned, those compositional capabilities exposed in those little notes with correspondingly accompanied doodling all over the pages, not to mention the perfect drawing techniques with details... were drawn exclamation out of us. When I heard that Ahn Doo-jin always carries a drawing book, it reminded me of the students in those old days. Those who daily lives are always connected to the drawing habit, drew whatever they saw, wrote whatever came to their mind, and doodled to fill the remaining spaces on the pages. It is their habit that organizing immediately whatever happened in their mind on the paper. I wonder these hands-on habit could be the inception of Ahn Doo-jin’s concept of ‘Imaquark.’
When I first saw Ahn Doo-jin’s portfolio last year, the vivid colors and splendid compositions caught my eyes immediately. Only after reading the artist’s statement that was written in depth almost as thesis, I realized that the logically accumulated theories were embeded in his art works. Starting from 2001, Ahn Doo-jin has been applied his scientific way of thinking to painting, and had created the concept of ‘Imaquark,’which means the smallest unit of an image. The word ‘Imaquark’was originated from the word ‘ima’of ‘imagine,’and the word ‘Quark’that means the smallest unit of a substance. The artist draws the ideas that had been gathered through various sources, and creates Imaquarks out of them, then connects those Imaquarks. Through the three dimensionally stationed installation process, which resembles the self-reproduction process of the Imaquarks that came out of two-dimensional space, he expedites the Imaquark experiment. One of his work, ‘Chapel Pink’ done in 2005, was the turning point in terms of the out look of his work. 'Chapel Pink' is a piece that model of free standing church building decorated with dazzling Imaquarks. In the sense of that Imaquarks are condensely coated over a concrete construction, it is clearly distinguished from the previous works in which Imaquarks were floating in the space.
The work of ‘Chapel Pink’started with the purpose of reflecting the question that lingers in me, through the unique encounter of the divinity and the comic. When the flighty and coarse images of my work are coated over the divine construction of the church...I wanted to confirm the occurrence of difference contexts in one field... That strange feeling is the one I wanted, and I intended...’Saint Brain Temple’is in the extension of Chapel Pink, and intended to flourish the epic story with the interior of the Chapel Pink. – From the artist’s statement –
‘Saint Brain Temple’is no-shoes exhibition. It is consist of two artworks of a giant ceiling painting titled ‘Rapture’that covers the entire ceiling of front hall, and a small altarpiece titled ‘The Last Game’that is displayed in the front wall of back room on the scarlet walls, which is located over the arched door. The motives of the ceiling painting, which came from the idea that the size and shape of the Brain Factory are similar to the private chapel was the ceiling painting of ‘The Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola’in Rome. The reason for the artist is paying special attention to the religious architectures while traveling might be that he who was born in religious family experience the existence of God throughout his life. The religious architectures such as cathedrals, churches, and Buddhist and Hindu temples have been the objects of research as beautiful piece of artworks for a long time. Since the psychological effects of those religious architectures and their artistic interiors on the peace-seekers are mighty, building a "beautiful house" is ultimate desire for all religious communities throughout the history. In those religious temples, the artist was impressed by the ‘sublime’that transcending the mere beauty, and it was universal regardless the various religions. By transforming the Brain Factory into the divine space through ‘Saint Brain Temple,’he stated in artist’s notes that he tried to experiment another possibility of Imaquark that he has been experimenting so far.
The title of the small altarpiece displayed on the front wall of the Brain Factory is ‘The Last Game.’ The composition of image is adopting the vertical fission technique that is commonly shown in altarpieces describing heaven and hell in the religious art from Byzantine and Gothic to Renaissance. This piece has three stories. The motive of upper part is derived from Michelangelo’s ‘The Last Judgement’in the Sistine Chapel, the middle part is adopted from Giotto’s ‘The Last Judgement’in the Arena Chapel, and the bottom part is from Cimabue’s altarpiece. The formation is adopted from the traditional altarpiece in the aspect of the image of God described in the icon located in the upper part; the three parts describes different situations, yet no communications amongst. However, it is interesting that ‘The Last Game’is substantially describing the sports arena. Since the piece was created under the fever of World Cup, the artist confessed that he had felt ‘sublime’within the power of sport that united people of the whole country. By overlapping the image of sports onto the divine image of altarpiece, the artist reinterpreted the meaning of ‘sublime’in the modern sense.
By definition, ‘Yeol-lark(Rapture)’, the title of ceiling painting displayed in the front hall, is Buddhist term meaning “The spiritual contentment obtained through transcending the desires of this world.” Its English title, ‘Rapture’means ‘extreme delight.’ In Christianity, it refers to the joy of meeting Jesus while lifted to the sky at the time of His Second Coming. Although these two words do not share the exactly same meaning, both refers to the extreme joy or contentment in each religion. By using these words together, the artist clarifies that he does not intend to propagate a specific religion. Ahn Doo-jin’s ‘Heaven,’was depicted by the magnificent buildings that has the open space in the center, and the sun rays are shinning through the dark clouds whirling over the buildings. On top of it, the rainbow colored cumulus clouds are rising up, and the angels and their guardian creatures are soaring up to the sky. The composition of vertical rise and the winged angels who are looking down or rising up, is popular repertoire of the ceiling paintings of religious architectures. Although the primary colored Imaquarks inside the black line drawing remind of the 'Dancheong' or the Buddhist wall painting, which used the five colors of directions, it is resulted only by the artist’s habit of preparing paints in each color, and fill each shape with one of those colors. However, it contributed to express the magnificence that is in a Buddhist temple.
This exhibition, ‘Saint Brain Temple’, which recreated the space of the Brain Factory as a small chapel with two condensed paintings, is in the extension of the experiment of possibility that can be created by the collection of Imaquarks. That is what he has tried so far. The solid composition of condensed Imaquarks that consist all of the magnificence of ceiling painting that is completed by connecting several canvases; the altarpiece that is so intense no single needle could seem to penetrate it; and the exploring energy generated by those colorful Imaquarks. Through this exhibition, Ahn Doo-jin will present visitors a unique encounter with ‘the modern sense of sublimewhich is created by the collaboration of Imaquarks.’
By Oh Sook-jeen/Brain Factory Director
