Meg Eugene Kim- Finale(Genesis)
https://www.behance.net/eugenekim11
Eugene Meg Kim was born in 1998, Seoul, South Korea. In 2021, she will receive her bachelor's degree in Art Practice at the University of California, Berkeley. Her art work explores two different directions - creating movement and narrative through the stillness of the piece, and conceptual explorations of “humanness” and “absoluteness” executed through her own philosophical and artistic language. Kim’s interest in both the art and STEM field has led to integrations with both traditional and contemporary approaches in her work. Her artistic endeavors consist in experimenting, research, and crafting while she mainly focuses on sculptures and paintings. Aside from an array of mediums she explores, oil paint and clay are recurring mediums that become the base of her art. Kim has been included in various exhibitions including the Kroeber Atrium Exhibit at Berkeley, CA and the Annual Student Exhibition held at the Atkinson Gallery in Santa Barbara, CA. Additionally, Kim’s time during her undergraduate work she gained experience at galleries and museums through her internships while taking on a spectrum of roles, and with multiple corporations and departments to create designs and logos. She currently works and lives in Berkeley, CA.
Artist Statement:
“If you were to create one last piece, what would it be?”
Throughout an array of subject matters I’ve rendered through art, one particular theme has shown consistent recurrence; An inquisition in what absoluteness is in relationship to what it is to be human. Although always left as a form of an unanswered query, this hypothetical “finale” piece was the becoming of a response to my previously unanswered pieces. Through that failure to respond before came clarity and conviction to perform the very act of creating a piece that depicts an amalgamation of an artist’s cognition and skill sets that encompasses conglomerate yet unifying themes, in other words the epitome of what would visually define one’s artistic enterprise.
All developed human beings possess a practical mastery of a vast range of concepts, including such basic structural notions as those of identity, truth, existence, material objects, mental states, space, and time; but a practical mastery does not entail theoretical understanding. It is that understanding which my art seeks to achieve.
My previous idea of what it was to be human in the relationship of absoluteness dealt with the mortality and imperfection of being human. To prove something is imperfect was easier than proving that something is absolute, thus leading my previous conclusions to accepting that there will be no possible scenario where an imperfect being can create, define, or comprehend perfection. That concluded my apprehension of the meaning of perfection as nothingness because when something is perfect, there is no room for possibilities. Thus, we the imperfect beings are able to continue and pursue existence because we thrive to be perfect, but cannot reach such state, a condition of hopelessness to our era.
However, the conceptual theory of the piece objects against the former conclusion and proposes what was considered to be inconceivable. I believe that with this new approach of defining absoluteness, it becomes theoretically possible for an imperfect singular entity to create an absolute entity. The physical/assigned property of the piece (imperfect singular entity) itself is the constant of the theory while everything interacting with the piece (everything within the whole spectrum of what can be defined as tangible to intangible that affects or is affected in some way) is the infinite amount of variables. Through each interaction between an imperfect singular entity with infinite variables comes an infinite amount of possibilities/outcomes, thus resulting in the genesis of an absolute entity.
imperfect entity (constant) + infinite possibilities (variable=∞) = absolute
To better put this in a formula,
X+ Σ_{n=1}^{∞}(½)^{n}
X= imperfect singular identity
(When n=∞, then 1/∞ = 0 thus reaching an end point where no improvement can be made.)
Thus, when we apply this idea specifically to the piece, even though the “physicality” of the piece itself is conceivably finite, the conceptual and theoretical property the piece withholds is what engenders infinite possibilities through the interaction with life’s unpredictable and chaotic (random) outcomes.
To better visualize this concept, there are parts of the piece where the piece will alter its physical form depending on the given environment. For example, the bottom of the piece changes color depending on the temperature, the lights emitting from the piece changes color and brightness depending on the ambiance of the sound surrounding it, changes perception as it was designed to look differently by angle, and there is a metal dome on the piece which visually reflects the audience and the environment around it integrating them as part of the work. Apart from the interactive factors, the piece also portrays visual elements that further depicts the metaphysical and ontological theme. Everything that stays consistent in the piece itself represents the constant of theory while everything that is not the piece (i.e. the audience, environment, ambiance...etc) represents the variable of the theory.
In conclusion, the piece has 2 stages. The initial stage Finale is when it holds a relationship with the artist in a consistent form and the next stage Genesis is when it terminates that constant state and transcends into a different possibility by conforming it’s physical appearance into the new environment given. Thus, if I were to create one last piece, I would make one that would transcend beyond my finite existence and further proliferate possibilities; a singular piece that endures potential to expand into infinite pieces.
