Jungki Beak (b. 1981) has been creating works that explore the essence of materials while connecting humanity's attitudes toward the natural environment and ancient cultures often labeled as superstition with contemporary science and philosophy.
 
His practice is built on a meticulous process that involves scientifically experimenting with the essence of materials and conducting in-depth research on specific subjects of interest, all of which are visualized through hands-on execution.

Jungki Beak's early works stem from scars caused by a childhood fire accident. His Vaseline Armor (2007) series, in which thick layers of Vaseline are applied to the skin to create forms resembling helmets and armor, and the installation work Treatment (2008), where Vaseline is filled into cracks in buildings, visually embody the "protective and healing qualities" of Vaseline—a substance that held significance beyond a simple household remedy in the artist's life. 
 
The artist also explored the etymology of Vaseline, a word combining the Saxon term “wassor” (water) and the Greek “oleon” (oil). Despite containing no water, Vaseline forms an oil-based barrier when applied to the skin, preventing the loss of moisture from beneath. This unique characteristic of Vaseline is often utilized in Beak's works as a metaphor symbolizing the "healing properties of water."

Since 2008, Jungki Beak's Pray for Rain series has evolved as a performance video project that concretizes his artistic experiments with the "healing properties of water," an exploration that originated in his Vaseline series, through the ritualistic framework of rainmaking ceremony.
 
Inspired by Thomas F. Homer-Dixon's Environment, Scarcity, and Violence (2001), which argues that environmental scarcity, such as water shortages, can provoke violence and conflict, Beak cast himself as a modern shaman. His performances aim to symbolically heal the sociopolitical tensions historically experienced by regions suffering from water scarcity.

Among these works, Pray for Rain: Mhamid (2008) was created in Mhamid, a Moroccan location emblematic of desertification. Here, Beak performed rainmaking rituals by incorporating traditional shamanistic elements from both Eastern and Western traditions and intertwining them with his personal metaphors related to "water, hydration, Vaseline, and healing."
 
In one ritual, he melted and reformed salamanders—traditionally used in Korean rainmaking rituals—crafted from wax and Vaseline. He also spread Vaseline on stones or the ground as part of his symbolic gestures. Drawing from Western alchemical traditions, he utilized the four classical elements (water, fire, air, and earth) and the triangle symbol associated with them, placing these forms in the direction of water and burying them in the ground as part of the ritual.

Subsequently, Jungki Beak's Pray for Rain series evolved into a prayer for societal integration, presented in his 2015 solo exhibition “MIND WALK” at DOOSAN Gallery. Beak drew parallels between the process of ideological polarization—where entrenched beliefs narrow and society becomes increasingly divided—and the way prolonged drought causes the earth to crack.
 
In the exhibition, the artist performed a homeopathic magic of prayer for rain (a principle that posits that similar things generate similar effects, with outcomes mirroring their causes). Through this ritual, he symbolically filled the cracks of a polarized society with understanding, tolerance, and unification, seeking to bridge divides and promote harmony.

The artist applied clay to the gallery walls, allowed it to dry, and then filled the resulting cracks with Vaseline. By hardening and cracking the clay, it was made to resemble parched earth. The artist then sprinkled water onto the dried clay, enacting the symbolic act of bringing rain. 
 
The use of Vaseline, a solid oil, rather than water, as a material also functions as an act of homeopathic magic. Just as shamans historically imbued objects with meaning based on their personal experiences and used them as ritual tools, the artist utilized Vaseline—commonly associated with moisturizing and healing—as a metaphorical material in a rainmaking ritual, symbolically invoking the integration and unity of society.

Meanwhile, the participatory installation work Sweet Rain (2010), exhibited in the basement of Insa Art Space, was a project that made the abstract in danbi (“sweet rain”) concrete. Within the indoor space of the exhibition hall, the artist created artificial rain infused with saccharin, a synthetic sweetener. Visitors, dressed in raincoats, were invited to freely roam the space, experiencing the sweet rain by feeling it on their bodies and even tasting it.

The word “danbi (sweet rain)” typically refers not to rain that is literally sweet but to rain that arrives at the perfect, most needed moment. The artist focused on this meaning while also drawing attention to the adjective “sweet” embedded in the word, which evokes a sensory connection to taste. Through this, the artist aimed to translate the concept of danbi into a tangible sensory experience. 
 
To achieve this, the artist designed a system where water from a tank on the second floor of the building was mixed with saccharin through an intermediary device. This sweetened water was then channeled through pumps and pipes, and dispensed via ceiling-mounted droplet mechanisms activated by buttons. The realization of this concept was grounded in scientific exploration and technical methodology, serving as the foundation for the artist's imaginative vision. 
 
Within this space where imagination became reality, visitors were invited to immerse themselves in a playful and sensory experience, encountering moments of joyful healing through their direct physical engagement.

The artist’s interest in water and rain as mediums of spiritual healing and conflict resolution becomes more concrete in Wave Cloud (2014). In this work, a device that artificially generates the sounds of rain, thunder, and wind emerges as an integral component of the framework of a rainmaking ritual.
 
In Aztec shamanistic practices, it is said that instruments producing sounds resembling rain were played during rainmaking ritual. Inspired by these instruments, the artist crafted a device that generates sounds of rain, wind, and thunderstorm as if performing on an instrument.

These sounds are transmitted as radio waves through an antenna to areas beyond the exhibition space. To amplify and extend the reach of these radio waves, the transmission device and amplifier are powered by a unique mechanism that converts the subtle heat energy from candles placed in a "candle generator" into electrical energy.
 
The participation of visitors is key: the more candles placed on the generator, the greater the power of the transmitted radio waves. Consequently, the sounds of rain, wind, and lightning carried by these waves travel farther and more powerfully. Emitted through a large antenna, the radio waves permeate the exhibition space, extend into other areas of the museum, and reach outdoor locations where visitors can hear the sounds via radios.

The Active Statue (2023) series, presented in the solo exhibition “All in One” at Arario Gallery in 2023, is another sound installation using antennas. This series involves creating monumental statues of actual figures and adding sound to them.
 
It is an extension of the Memorial Antenna series, which the artist has been working on since 2011. Memorial Antenna is a project where actual statues or monuments, erected to commemorate historical, political, or religious events, are repurposed as antennas to receive shortwave radio signals.

Memorial Antenna is a work that directly uses the material properties of existing outdoor monuments made of metal, whereas Active Statue involves 3D scanning real statues, transforming them into antenna sculptures with slightly altered appearances, adding an imaginative element to their forms.
 
These statues transmit a voice reading a mysterious novel and intermittent cello performances as radio waves, and the audience listens to these new electromagnetic waves and languages through radios placed throughout the gallery space. By using the statue as an antenna to visualize latent sounds, Beak encourages reconsideration of the significance of existence, directing attention to the materiality of the medium rather than the meaning or symbolism embodied in the statue's appearance.

Another representative work of Jungki Beak, the Is of (2011-) series, consists of photographs depicting natural landscapes. Although they appear to be faded, old landscape photos, these images are actually prints made using pigments extracted from natural materials such as maple leaves and green tea leaves found at the locations captured in the photographs. Unlike conventional ink prints, the colors derived from real nature are less precise in reproduction, and when exposed to light or oxygen, they gradually fade over time, reflecting the passage of time.

By creating works using natural elements, Beak visually presents the concepts of nature's essence and properties, as well as the processes of generation and dissolution. Since 2017, he has researched preservation methods, resulting in the development of photographic works where the entire photo is encapsulated with transparent resin using an impregnation technique. This act of freezing time leads to reflections on human desires and actions to artificially halt the natural process of change.
 
Jungki Beak continuous exploration of surrounding objects and phenomena has evolved into works that approach the belief in materials formed over time or the invisible flow of natural energy with both artistic imagination and scientific methods. His works bridge or merge opposing themes such as modern and traditional, science and religion, material and spirit, using the natural properties of materials.

"Through my works, I wanted to evoke the essence of nature and reflect on our conceptions."  (Jungki Beak, The Kyunghyang Shinmun, 2010.08.02)

Jungki Beak studied sculpture in Kookmin University, Korea, and carried on his education in fine art at Glasgow School of Art, UK. From 2006 until 2023, he has held 12 solo exhibitions, at Alt Space LOOP and OCI Museum just to name a few. From 2004 until now he has participated in many museum exhibitions in Korea, such shows held at The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea, Seoul Museum of Art, Amorepacific Museum of Art, Ulsan Art Museum, SONGEUN, Leeum Museum of Art, Nam June Paik Art Center, Posco Art Museum and Daegu Art Museum.
 
He has also participated in many group shows internationally in Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, UK, Italy, USA, Venezuela, Israel, China, Singapore and Hong Kong. In 2012 he was awarded the SONGEUN Art Award, 2019 the Kimsechoong Art Prize for sculpture, and in 2023 IFVA

Media Art Gold Award, Hong Kong Arts Center. His works are in public collections such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea, Busan Museum of Contemporary Art and Ulsan Art Museum in Korea.

References

• 백정기, Jungki Beak (Artist Website)
• 아라리오갤러리, 백정기 (Arario Gallery, Jungki Beak)
• 국립현대미술관, 백정기 | 기우제:마하미드 | 2008 – 2018 (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea (MMCA), Jungki Beak |Pray for Rain: Mhamid | 2008 -2018) 
• Korean Artist Project, 샤머니즘, 공학, 미술: 백정기의 작업에서 과도적 영역들 - 강수미)
• 아라리오갤러리, 올인원 (Arario Gallery, All in One)
• 경향신문, “파란물은 없는데…” 실재와 관념 사이, 2010.08.02