[You are Here]
Kim, Jung Soo
Engraved Mirror, Magnifier
2023
[You are Here] is a part of the [Sensory Spatial Travel] series, serving as an interactive artwork where individuals project themselves beyond their 'bodies' into space. Extending a portion of the 'body' into the spatial realm and experiencing it in various forms represent a transition from self-cognition to self-recognition.
[You are Here] engages in ontological exploration, asking 'who am I?' and 'where do I exist?' It externalizes the concept of self, allowing everyone to observe themselves as we transition from private to public, thus externalizing and personifying 'me' into 'you.' A portion of the self becomes the 'other,' and in the process of observing this transformation, viewers also undergo a perceptual shift in spatial awareness.
Small letters that seem to be scratched on the surface of the mirror repeat the sentence "You are Here," or there are sentences in which the viewer looking at the work can understand [You are Here]. Sentences that mean "you are here because you are staring" are scattered in the mirror, and to complete the structure of the sentence, the viewer looks at the letters of the mirror for a long time using a magnifying glass.
Also in the middle of the searching for sentences, because of the low-rise install, viewer looks at themself from a different point of view than the mirror on the wall that we usually look at, which is unfamiliar and new. This visualizes the process of otherization at the same time as facing our appearance unfamiliarly.