Activity A- Part 2

This artwork is called There is no place- Shallow cuts which was made in 2008 by Kibong Rhee from South Korea. The work was made by using water and light to manipulate form and matter. The materials that were used are glass, fog machine, artificial leaves, wood, steel, sand, motor and a timer. They add meaning to the work as it makes the tree look sad and lonely, ‘weeping’. The fog machine adds mystery to the artwork and ‘completes’ it- without it there would be no effect and people would not look twice at it because it would have no real meaning.
In this artwork, there are fairly plain, monochromatic colours (white-black). There are not really any definite lines in this piece as the fog makes the tree branches fad into their surroundings. They have more of a flow or a wave to them. There are also no ‘real’, prominent shapes to the artwork. The slightly lighter shade of light is around the willow tree and as you look further away from the tree, the light becomes dimmer and darker. The willow tree shows a contrast between it and the background towards the front of the tree and as you look further back, the tree fades into the background.
‘In the installations of Kibong Rhee, audiences encounter dreamlike scenarios in which everyday objects and images are made extraordinary through the illusion of movement and transformation. Using water and light to manipulate form and matter, Rhee plays on our expectations of the possible and impossible, offering metaphysical speculations that provide his work with a contemplative quality. In his installation at APT6, There is no place – Shallow cuts 2008, Rhee employs light and vapour to conjure a sublime impression of morning fog as it shrouds and obscures the silhouette of a vast willow tree. A powerfully physical work, it also suggest traditional landscape painting, forming a connection between experience and representation.’
It is about how you feel when you encounter the vast outline of the willow tree, visible through a thick and mysterious fog. Kibong Rhee is from South Korea, the willow tree is an important symbol of nature in traditional Korean painting and poetry. The Willow is the tree most associated with the moon, water, the Goddess and all that is feminine. It is the tree of dreaming, intuition and deep emotions. Symbolically it belongs to the beginning of spring, when all of life is stirring in the depths and begins to shoot outwards once again. Willow tree meanings include magic, healing, inner vision and dreams. The willow is a famous subject in many East Asian nations' cultures, and the image has been employed in a variety of Korean poetry. The willow was also part of mourning pieces created in the 19th century (and earlier) by women to commemorate the death of a loved one. These pieces always included one or more mourners in dark dresses bent over a burial vault, tombstone or urn with a willow tree--a symbol of death, tears, mourning, and reflection. Perhaps this is the origin of the term "weeping willow".