Wands is a work related to special visual effects, which are increasingly expanding their presence and influence in movies and computer games with the development of technology. However, this work does not aim to achieve extreme sensory stimulation or the maximum level of spectacle, which are the aims of technologies such as computer graphics or 3D visualization that are made possible by the accumulation of capital. Wands proposes to reference and appropriates countless special visual effect scenes that are developed through the history of film, or the context through which they went, to the furthest possible level. At the same time, the work suggests reexamining and reusing these effects through a completely different perspective than the current development of special visual effect.
As I see it, “wand” is a symbol that represents the phenomenon called special effects. In many films where special visual effects are applied, the wand is an item that possesses the power to move the unmovable and unleash confined energy. It is also an item possessed by those who have such power or those who are able to manage it (wizards, ascetics, prophets, or Buddhist monks with great magical powers). It connects humans with a certain energy of heaven and nature; it delays or expands time; it summons non-existence (ghosts or souls) or abolishes them in front of one’s eyes. One can imagine different wands that play a number of different roles.
Why should the wand, which has to belong to everyone, exclusively belong to the special visual effects industry? I assume cases where people do not become a simple and passive audience of special visual effects. I imagine that they usurp the wand from the cinematic space and make the special effect as a technical form vanish, or they possess the power to manage a wand with freedom. Wouldn’t it be possible to bring back the power of heaven and nature, things that are invisible, or the passion towards the world?
Through Wands, I ironically imagine a different kind of special effect within a space time where visible special effects have vanished. [Rho Jae Oon]
“Wands”, 2014. mixed media. dimensions variable. Commissioned by SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul 2014. Courtesy of the artist
“Wall of F/X”, 2014. acrylic mirror on wall. dimensions variable. Commissioned by SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul 2014. Courtesy of the artist
“Frame Works-Braindead Scape”, 2014. mixed media. dimensions variable. Commissioned by SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul 2014. Courtesy of the artist
“The End”, 2010. letter made of steel plate, grapnel, chain. 30 × 59.5 × 1 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Seoul Museum of Art
Collection of Seoul Museum of Art
“This World is a Sea of Blood”, 2009. transparent color acrylic panel. 28 × 180 × 2 cm. Courtesy of the artist
“Some men are worse than ghosts, and some ghost are better than men”, 2009. transparent color acrylic panel. 29 × 190 × 2 cm. Courtesy of the artist
“Klaatu Barada Nikto”, 2011. transparent color acrylic panel. 29 × 190 × 2 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul
