인천에서 태어났다. 여러 다큐멘터리/미디어 프로덕션에서 일했다. 한국남성(줄여서 한남)으로써 인간중심주의와 남성중심주의에 저항하고, 사회와 국가에 자리잡은 다양한 경계의 의미와 실체를 분석하고 해체하는 작업을 이어가고 있다.
Inseok Choi - 최인석/崔仁碩/Choi In-Seok (pronounced 'IN-suk CHE,' b. Incheon, S.Korea) is a lens-based visual artist working on his moving experiences and developing ideas about the body and space as memory containers. Choi becomes an examiner around various boundaries with linguistic and visual differences through his research, identifying himself as a transnational wanderer. Through mixed visual media and genres, he keeps questioning limited status and belonging beyond nationality and obscure distinctions between human and non-human beings.
Choi was born in Incheon, South Korea, and has moved more than 20 times in his lifetime. In 2018, he moved to the United States with his partner. This experience helped him to recognize himself in different situations: being otherized, learning the diverse meanings of 'home' and 'place,' and getting to know documenting, memorization, and emotions go together without an androcentric and anthropocentric gaze. Choi Received his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
Artist Statement
이사를 많이 다닌다. 내게 이사는 앞뒤로 많은 감정과 체력을 쏟아붓는 큰 일이다. 장소에서 시작되는 이야기를 찾는 동안, 나는 개인적인 순간과 다른 존재에 말을 거는 식으로 내가 거쳐온 곳에 특별한 감정을 심어 길러내었고 지금도 기르고 있다. 감정이 깃든 장소 대부분은 더는 존재하지 않는다. 재개발로 헐려 사라지거나 전혀 다른 곳이 되었기 때문이다. 부모를 포함한 대부분 한국 사람들은 집/장소를 돈으로 치환 가능한 존재/부동산으로 가늠한다. 신속한 재개발을 목격하는 건 그저 현상에 지나치지 않는다. 이를 통해 나는 여러 경계에 더 가까이 다가가 생각하고 이야기를 풀어낸다.
사진을 이용해 드러나지 않는 주변부/바깥들의 이야기와 감정에 집중하고 일종의 다리가 되어 관찰보다는 전달한다. 소외/배제된 존재에 초점을 맞추어 인간중심주의, 남성중심주의, 자본주의, 국가주의, 그리고 탈식민주의를 연구한다.
I have moved 20 times, and moving has become a yearly event regardless of my want. Having many emotions from spaces made me think about myself as an odd, slow thinker, so moving puts me in chaos. I am not ready to leave/live/move, but I soon have to, like a transient and a prospective immigrant. Through finding a story of space, I focus on other beings and places I lived as if those were organic fragments of me that someday would expire but still speak to me. Most sites and communities disappeared sooner because of redevelopment. Witnessing rapid redevelopment and replacement is heartbreaking and even makes me feel guilty.
However, documenting these moments through lens-based media relieved my anxiety and convinced me. It led me closer to the margins of space and its story. Moreover, translating it into my visual language speaks against the violent side of Korean society, which is made of wretched masculinity and a myth of a homogeneous nation. This experience led me to move to the United States, where I hoped to improve as a photographer and educator.
In the states, being an Asian man brought challenges of being otherized, but simultaneously, it motivated and inspired me to create diverse perspectives through more non-human beings. Through producing several lens-based works from digital and analog photography, archival materials, moving images, and camera obscura among different places, I aim to investigate critical questions and answers about the landscape of androcentrism and anthropocentrism through visualizing spatial emotions. Through my work and research, I aspire to build safe open spaces where everyone is welcomed and share their experiences through artistic mediums as a bridge.
Contact
whereischoi at gmail dot com
As of September 11th, 2023