Artist Lee Won-woo is actively working using various media such as sculpture, performance, and installation. He transforms the life he captures to create an unfamiliar experience that reminds us of our lives. He describes this as “sculpting the situation that the audience experiences.” I think that’s a really great expression. That’s why, even though it may seem like he’s not working on the outside, he’s still working in his head.

However, the fact that he likes to finish and complete most of his work by hand is appealing. He loves the humor and irony that arises when existing logic fails and breaks down. That’s why you can find his temperament that slightly twists reality when you look at his work. He values ​​how well his attitude is reflected in his work, and the subject he’s been consistently interested in recently is happiness.

He has been working on a project where he listens to people’s stories about their past and future and turns them into small sculptures. He says it felt like time travel. He’s currently contemplating the subject of kindness, so we’re looking forward to seeing how his work will unfold. Check out the article to learn more about artist Lee Won-woo’s recent story of sculpting situations. 

Please introduce yourself.

Hello. I am Wonwoo Lee. I work on sculpting situations using various media such as sculpture, performance, and installation.

I’m curious about the chance you had to become the practicing creative you are today.

While attending art college, I first started working as an artist while working with my colleagues in a performance team called the ‘… Joketta Project’. I focused on team activities for 4~5 years, and as time went by, I focused more on individual work, which is how I got to where I am now. I think my experience working as a model in my younger days influenced my performance work.

Could you give us a brief introduction to your workspace?

The studio located near Seoul is on the foot of a mountain. I can observe the surrounding environment that changes with the seasons, and I can also meet various plants and animals.

Since I mainly work on sculptures and installations, I needed a space that was easy to produce or store, but it was not easy to find a suitable space in Seoul. I am satisfied with my move to a good environment. I also feel that it is good for the emotions to be in contact with nature.

Where do you mainly get your inspiration from?

I get inspiration from various experiences in life. There is no set theme or pattern that comes to me. There is just a moment when I get a feel for it. No matter what kind of inspiration I start with, I tend to focus on something that shows my attitude well.

There are some themes that I hold on to for a long time, and there are also works that I work on in an instant because inspiration comes to me suddenly. Recently, I have become more interested in nature.

It may be difficult to explain in words, but what creative process do you go through when you work?

I sculpt situations. I create situations that the audience experiences. I try to create unfamiliar experiences that can evoke our lives by slightly changing the images of life that I have captured. I think a lot even when I am not working.

Even when I am not in the studio, I am actually continuously working in my head. When I decide to make a work, I move quickly, and I like to use my hands to create works, so I finish and complete many of my works by hand.

I'm curious about your work. Can you give me some examples of your recent work?

Last autumn, I presented a solo exhibition titled 《Cloudsmith》 at the exhibition space RE:PLAT. The word “Cloudsmith” is a compound word of cloud and blacksmith. It was an exhibition with the concept of making the audience happy. I asked the question, "What did you do to make yourself happy today?" and received answers from the audience through advance applications, and made small sculptures.

This project was an extension of my 2017 solo exhibition 《Lost & Found in the Ball》 at Art Sonje Center. It was a project where I would make small sculptures on the spot when the audience requested a lost item that they wanted to find. At first, I expected specific objects, but it was interesting to see that many people were looking for quite abstract things like love, health, identity, passion, and happiness.

After that, I continued working in New York, Montreal, and Helsinki, and I found that Korean audiences in particular had a lot of anxiety about the future even when I asked them about the past. So, with the desire to hear your thoughts about the future, I started a series of projects on the topic of 'Your Beautiful Future'.

After listening to so many people's stories about their past and future, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to find my own 'happiness' in the form of the lost past and the future I dream of. That's why I started listening to stories about happiness and thinking that I should create their happiness.

The idea of ​​comparing happiness to clouds started with the imagination of, “What if a blacksmith made clouds?” When I was young, my mother said, “Happiness is momentary,” and as an adult, I found myself nodding along to that sentence. So I wondered what it would be like to compare the momentary nature of happiness to clouds.

Clouds, which I have been interested in for quite some time, are a natural phenomenon that constantly changes, but they also have a certain form and disappear over time, which I found interesting. When I looked at the huge mass of clouds in the sky that changed every moment and easily dispersed, I thought it was a kind of play.

On the other hand, a blacksmith is someone who quietly hammers iron to make solid tools. The heterogeneous feeling of two completely different elements meeting was interesting. When I name my work or exhibitions, I prefer simple titles that can convey the intention of the production without listing the content as if explaining it. As a result, the expressions that appear in the title often imply the theme of the exhibition.

I also remember the work I did to create an AI artist called Trojan X. It was a competition between AI artists and human artists with the concept of AI vs. AI. It was a competition structure where an AI artist created by an AI expert and an AI artist created by an artist created each other's works of art in an actual exhibition hall, and the audience evaluated who was better.

Trojan X is an AI robot that I created using my central nervous system. In fact, it was a performance work where I went inside the robot I created and performed an AI performance. I drew pictures in the exhibition hall and talked to the audience, and many people believed that it was a real robot.

Even a researcher who works as an AI expert at a leading domestic corporation was surprised when he left feedback saying that the competing company seemed to have made tremendous progress after talking to the AI.

It made me think about how closely AI and other technologies have penetrated our lives, how shallowly they can deceive us when they have fancy titles, and how blindly we trust them. The audience's response was also enthusiastic, so it was even more fun.

What did the author want to emphasize most through his work?

I wanted to hear more people's stories about happiness. 《Lost & Found in the Ball》, 《YOUR BEAUTIFUL FUTURE》, 《Cloudsmith》 While working on the exhibition, I met about 1000 people in person, listened to their stories, and improvised my work based on their responses.

I tried to focus completely on each different answer. As I met people and traveled through the past and the future, it felt like time travel. I am currently preparing to publish a book by weaving together my own stories and what I found while listening to their stories about the past, the future, and happiness.

As you work on your project, I'm curious about what you're satisfied with and what you're dissatisfied with.

It's still in process, but I'm satisfied. The most important thing in my work is how well my attitude is reflected in the work. When the work leaves my hands, I have to find strength on my own without having to explain it one by one or explain it in words, so I consider that important. Currently, I'm working on the theme of kindness. I've felt that many people have been losing kindness. I'm the same way.

Kindness may be inherent in nature or learned, but I think it comes from relationships with others. It's about an attitude that forms an invisible relationship. I'm thinking about kindness as an altruistic heart that humans can have when forming relationships with others, other beings, nature, or the world, or an attitude similar to love but different.

Can I ask you about how you usually spend your daily life?

Since moving my studio to the suburbs, I try to schedule meetings and appointments as soon as possible and spend as much time as possible in the studio. I’ve been getting to the studio early for a long time, so this is the most comfortable and best. I think a lot and organize my thoughts while walking. That’s why I go for walks a lot, and I prefer walking when I’m walking around the city.

What are you most interested in these days?

Nature. I am interested in creating a good garden.

How does your attitude towards life reflect in your work?

I think I have a tendency to look at the world from a different perspective, think about it, or try to turn it upside down. The humorous code that occurs when existing logic fails and breaks down is born from the work of slightly twisting reality, so you can feel humor and irony when you look at my work.

How do you overcome a slump?

Keep making things in the studio. The end result doesn't matter, whether it's a doodle, a work I've done before, or a model of a work I've been thinking about. Keep moving your hands. When your brain isn't working well, if you move your hands and make something, your brain will start working again. It's like my own stretching before running.

What is the most realistic problem you've encountered recently?

Time seems to pass faster and faster.

Could you tell us about the attitude and philosophy of a creator that you consider important?

Regardless of whether others think it's cool or bad, there's something unique about the creator. It could be the subject matter, the material, the method of expression, the attitude, the atmosphere. And a person of dignity.

Do you have any tips or tricks to share with other creators who want to continue doing what they love?

In order to do what you like, you have to do a lot of things you dislike, and you have to know how to let go of a lot of things other than what you like. I think it's important to love what you're doing.

What kind of creator do you want people to remember you as?

A cheerful person.  

What does the ideal future you currently envision look like?

In the process of making the future that hundreds of people dream of into work, I heard many stories about the future, and it was very diverse and interesting. While doing so, I also think about the future. I think that living healthily and lovingly is the most ideal future. And I want to create a resort.

References

• [인터뷰] 상황을 조각하는 사람
  [Interview] A person who carves a situation