Sungkok Art Museum
2009.03
Kwon's huge size photographs contain something that overwhelms viewers' gazes. The enlargement of the photo size retains several meanings. This act was initially attempted by the school of Dusseldorf for the purpose of differentiating their photographs from others, usually used for documentation or reporting. Thus, the enlargement of the format has become the first step to proclaim the attempt to use photographs in useless terms such for hanging them on a wall in gallery or museum space, departing from its conventional utility. A group of photographers in recent days, who claim to be artists, tend to enlarge their photos to a monumental size and Kwon's works also can seen as a part of these examples. The founders of this group, Bernard & Hilla Becher, displayed the vanishing structures of industrial society in a neutral sense using the strict techniques of documentary skills. However, they denied their works to be recognized as merely documents or visual records, but wanted them to be recognized as individual images out of sociological contexts, not as simply traces of history. They eliminated such fluctuating and sensuous elements like subjective emotions, periodical changes, the depth of an event, etc. and aimed for a firm composition in a somewhat strict and a cold sense, rather than subjective expression of the capture of scenes involving only temporary meaning. An image in this context attains objectivity as a new entity, not as a trace of something else. Therefore, Bernard & Hilla Becher and the following group of Dusseldorf have presented a strict and minute sense of artificiality as simulacra instead of contingency and eventuality. In this sense, the enlargement of the format also has the effect of transforming a photograph into an individual entity rather than a merely mimesis.
