Temporary Passage
Lim Byung-Su, Espace relatif, 2022, Métal, plexiglass, plâtre and résine, 32✕32✕85cm
What is reality? Who are in this vast universe, and what is time? These are some of the existential questions that have plagued humans for centuries. Humans are inevitably subjected to the passage of time. We live in a relationship to time marked by the memory of the past, the present moment, and the anticipation of the future that define our existence and inexorably lead us to death. Representing and grasping the nature of time and reality, which are invisible and intangible concepts, are a source of many fascinations and anguish.
FOCUS Art Fair’s upcoming project ‘ART BOOM – 2021/2022’ aims to highlight, explore and reimagine the potential future of our evolving world, forming new perspectives and dialogues within the industry as new, diverse, and influential talent come to the forefront during this period of rebirth. We have not had a shared experience globally since then until the pandemic. The art that has come out of the pandemic, therefore, being unifying and relevant across cultures, is similarly likely to steer drastic changes in the cultural narrative. FOCUS Art Fair believes that a post-pandemic art boom is happening as the loss of stability pushed many artists out of their comfort zones to pursue their true passion, and as social isolation and introspection drove the desire to express more authentically and connect more genuinely through art.
Lin Wen-Che, cld_dr_wk & dr_wk, 2022, Installation en bois, vidéo, animation 3D, son
From Plato to the philosophers of the Enlightenment, as well as the vanities of the 17th century or even Salvador Dalì, questions about the passage of time and its irreversibility have marked the arts and sciences throughout the ages. Indeed, art has also taken up these philosophical questions to question our very existence and our relationship to others and the universe. Today, we present two artists: Lim Byung-Su and Lin Wen-Che, who challenge space, time, and the dimension of the realm of reality by creating installations mixing video, light, and sound.
Lim Byung-Su, Sans titre, 2022, Plâtre, résine and lentille fresnel, 70✕70✕50cm
Lim Byung-Su attempts through his work to materialize events that are far from our daily experiences and question the very essence of our existence. Where are we? Is it possible to go beyond the reality of our material world? Can we break the boundaries of our reality? Therefore, his geometrical and abstract works relate to a cognitive and metaphysical process. To answer his existential questions, he resorts to geometrization, which allows the unfolding of the physical reality and the true nature of the physical phenomena of the universe. To do this, the artist carefully observes his environment and the objects surrounding him. He seeks to establish a connection between the visible world and the invisible world by exploring the process of distortion of sight, optical illusion, and the effects of light.
Byung-Su’s work prompts the visitor to deep introspection and leads him to question his notion of reality. He seeks to establish a form of “temporal passage” between the sensible world and the intelligible world.
Lim Byung-Su, Attraction, 2022, Résine, lycra and bille en acier, 80✕18cm
Like Byung-Su, the notion of reality is at the heart of the work of Lin Wen-Che. He considers that the constant renewal and progress of new technologies have made human interactions essentially virtual. We are witnessing the advent of the digital age, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. The explosion of the Internet, information, and its massive diffusion on social media during the 2000s have transformed our reality forever. Lin Wen-Che ponders the meaning of the word “Internet” and its evolution over the years. The dependence of humans on the Internet tends to draw us closer and closer to dystopian scenarios, such as that of Matrix, where the characters live between two worlds: the virtual world and the real world.
With the Covid-19 health crisis, the Internet has reached its peak and has proven its indispensability more than ever. We are the protagonists of a generation where our minds wander between the virtual and the real. Between materialism and idealism, Wen-Che sets in his work the meeting between the real and the virtual world. States of consciousness, emotions, and sensitivity prevail in Lin Wen-Che’s works.
Lin Wen-Che, cld_dr_wk, 2022, installation en bois, vidéo, animation 3D, son, 213✕110✕20cm
The works of Lim Byung-Su are rather fixed and monochrome while those of Lin Wen-Che play more on the movement and color. The two artists converge on a common ground which is the passage between tangible space and metaphysical space. The artists reflect on our reality. How does our experience allow us to know that we live in the real world? Is it possible to go beyond the reality of this material world? They both reflect on the existence of another invisible reality and dreams that would turn out to be just as real as the environment in which we live. It is from this curiosity that Lim Byung-Su and Lin Wen-Che try to materialize their experiences and invite the visitor to dive into this parallel world.
Lin Wen-Che, dr_wk (capture d’écran), 2022, vidéo, animation 3D, son, 05:26 min