Lee Myoung-ho’s Artistic Progress Presents ‘Alienation Effect’
A column that helps you understand Korean contemporary artThe nickname for artist Lee Myoung-ho is ‘Tree Artist.’ This is because of the Tree Series, the starting point of the ‘Photography-Act project’ that encompasses his overall work. These works, which set up a canvas behind a tree, have become the signature of Lee Myoung-ho. His work originated from the idea that “the canvas alone can be an art.” In an interview, he said, “It seems like a simple work, but there are many viewpoints and layers in it, and various interpretations are possible for the result.”If you look closely at Lee Myoung-ho’s work, you may be confused whether the tree and space beyond the surface of the picture are real or fictional. It’s an ‘alienation effect.’ In other words, you experience unfamiliarity paradoxically in a familiar and ordinary-looking landscape. That’s what German playwright Bertolt Brecht said. By looking at everyday objects from an external perspective, it is intended to reveal a new aspect of what is familiar.Tree #18_2_4, 2021. Image ⓒ Lee Myoung-ho.Lee’s work deals with real objects and spaces but creates confusion, as if they were manipulated by miniatures. Looking at the Tree Series, it is difficult to easily detect the size or distance of the tree with a minimized landscape that leaves only essential elements. In short, it is visual disturbance. He reveals this by using the original properties of photographs, not by exaggeration or devious perspective, but by choice and recording of real objects. This is obviously a new and different experience. The trees in the field that were not recognized due to the so-called ‘inattentional blindness’ (a phenomenon of overlooking things in sight) suddenly appear prominent due to the canvas and are separated from the landscape. This experience is surprising because it is reproduced entirely using photographs,