KJCKorea
Journal Central

This article explores the affectivity of the contemporary city through the analysis of the work of video performance by Korean artist Park June-bum. In doing so, it focuses on discussing three of his works: <3 Crossing>(2002), <1 Parking>(2001), and <The Advertisement>(2004). Oversized hands appearing in the video screens, and the dynamic moods and the network of forces generated by the entanglement of ordinary urban fabrics are the characteristics of his works. What these videos mediate are instances of daily cityscapes such as crossroads, outdoor parking lots, and roadside commercial buildings. Park considers these seemingly banal strata of everyday life to be objects of curiosity, from which to generate a set of new relations by re-mediating and recomposing the given strata in various ways. What move forwards the narratives of Park’s videos are undoubtedly two hands, which are fragmented parts of certain bodies that do not further provide details regarding to which bodies those hands are related. The ostensibly threatening and omnipresent hands in his videos do not impose power onto the everyday in a top-down manner. Instead, those hands become part of the existing network of disparate forces within given environments. In other words, those hands as fragmented body parts prominent in Park’s videos are in resonance to the changing speeds and rhythms of given milieus, unfold new moods, and ultimately instigate a myriad of affective instances that reflect the infinity of everyday life.

video performance, the contemporary city, affectivity, Park June-bum, everyday life