Kim Joon
Ironic that identity theft should become such a big issue just when identity has become so obviously a thing of the past. But then we always cry loudest over the deadest doctrines–and anyway, what we call identity theft isn’t really about identity at all but about buying power, which remains a vital concept.
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Korean artist Kim Joon clearly understands that identity–the real Western humanist thing, the sense of oneself as an individual with unique characteristics, an independent fate, and very possibly a soul–isn’t an option favored by consumer culture. He recognizes that what we take for autonomy is actually nothing more than a pattern of choices made from the narrow menu provided by Organized Commerce (successor to Organized Religion). That what we have are not identities but a set of identifications: Cubs versus White Sox, Nike versus Adidas, VW versus BMW, Jesus versus, oh, say, Allah. Yes, this is banal–the stuff of number-not-a-name science fiction. But (a) that doesn’t mean it isn’t true, and (b) Kim makes it compelling with his astonishing, disturbing photos in “Tattoo You” at Walsh.
Functionally faceless, then, with no control over our digitizable bodies, what are we? What we wear? What we buy? What we’re told? The answer suggested by Kim’s technology is that we exist as flesh-toned billboards and “are” whatever can be projected onto us.
Cox’s notion of reconstruction is a lot more liberal, too. His embellishment of an x-rayed upper body, Dextraposed Heart With Pneumonia, leaves the diseased lungs alone but supplies a head surrounded by landscape and sky. Knee complements the title joint with grass and flowers. Skull provides a young woman’s face in profile while leaving the back of the cranium exposed.
Where: Walsh, 118 N. Peoria
Info: 312-226-8984
