Artist Gwak Sin's First Solo Exhibition 《Endless》: Iconography of Love and Desire Crafted with Semiconductor Technology

Artist Gwak Sin, the head of a semiconductor equipment company, held her first solo exhibition 《Endless》, which sublimates the technological prowess of industrial sites into an artistic language. This exhibition serves as a venue to present the combination of the precise technology of the semiconductor industry, which Gwak Sin has been part of for 29 years, and philosophical insights into life. Held at Seoul Auction Gangnam Center, this exhibition announced a powerful start as a rising artist by capturing the eternal trajectories of time and life on metal.

Three Iconographies of Love, Desire, and Eternal Time

According to the mimisangin video, artist Gwak Sin deals with three core iconographies that penetrate universal human life in this exhibition. The protagonists are 'desire (dollar sign)' which everyone craves, 'love (heart)' which people wish would last forever, and 'time (clock)' which is given equally to everyone. The speaker in the video also mentioned the meaning of love given by the heart iconography, stating, "Even if there is no money and no time, there is heart."

Particularly eye-catching is a clock object where the hour, minute, and second hands have all disappeared. This clock, which does not point to a specific time, symbolizes the universality of time and visualizes eternity, just like the exhibition title 'Endless'. Additionally, the cubic dice artwork poetically expresses how love, desire, and the one and only time coexist even amidst the uncertainty of life. The sophisticated dollar sign artwork, reminiscent of Andy Warhol, also shows high completeness through its clean finish.

The Meeting of Semiconductor Technology and Art, Precision Implemented via CNC Milling

The greatest feature of this exhibition is that the technological prowess of the semiconductor industry, the artist's main profession, was directly utilized as a production methodology for the works. Using the aluminum, CNC milling, and industrial robot technology she has handled in the semiconductor field for 29 years, artist Gwak Sin precisely carved the metal surfaces.

The video noted that the surfaces of the works consist of numerous squares, much like small pixels. This is not a result of carving a single block entirely, but a result implemented through precision processing. The artist captured the process of technology and life continuing upon the sturdiness of metal, showing a new methodology of contemporary art that cooperates with machines. According to the mention in the video, the artist showed a serious attitude toward her work, such as fairly paying the costs incurred from using the company's machines during the process. Her attempt to engrave her artistic message through the eternity of metal, which has pioneered human history, stands out.

The Double Life of Executive 'Gwak Dong-shin' and Artist 'Gwak Sin'

Artist Gwak Sin operates by separating her identity as an executive of HANMI Semiconductor and her identity as an artist. This is in context with the way the singer Daft Punk distinguished characters through helmets. On one side of the exhibition space, old machines used since the artist's father's time are placed, showing the background in which she nurtured her artistic dreams. This space serves as a clue showing the background in which the artist grew into an artist.

The exhibited small items include a 'Back to the Future' skateboard that the artist collected while dreaming of the future in her childhood, a BE@RBRICK with a 'Tetsujin 28-go' motif, and a Daft Punk helmet. These collectibles go beyond simple hobbies and symbolize the driving force of a human being who has lived intensely in industrial sites to complete her dreams. The artist gives herself a positive message, "Go forth, it's your turn," and is expanding her own firm taste into art by collecting works by Philip Colbert. Artist Gwak Sin is expected to constantly evolve, preparing for her next work without settling for her current work.