Animal Comedy: A Journey To Paradise
Jeong Seong-Joon's works have changed a little each time, but on the whole his works have one thing in common. It is the "coexistence of man and nature" that pervades his entire body of work. It is true that art on these themes has been dealt with mainly in environmental art. However, despite the common theme of environmental art, his work differs from it, and most importantly, it differs from general environmental art in that it expresses itself in a way that is very familiar to us.
The "Land Art" of Robert Smithson (1938-1973) or the "Arte Povera" of Giovanni Anselmo (1934-), for example, seem to be difficult for the public to understand and access. Jeong Seong-Joon's work, on the other hand, is relatively accessible because he uses traditional media such as oil paintings and sculptures, and the images he expresses are familiar to the eye. He also leads the audience to approach the work naturally by placing animals that everyone likes, not only adults but also children, regardless of age and gender, in front of the work. What is the significance of the images shown in Jeong Seong-Joon's work in relation to the theme of "coexistence between humans and nature"?
In a number of recent works, it can be seen that the main composition of the paintings consists of scenes with a group of animals looking around in the middle of the city, riding in a car or streetcar, or walking alone. In addition to donkeys, small monkeys, polar bears and penguins in Antarctica, there are also animals such as pigs, raccoons, chickens and foxes as the main characters on their way to a certain destination. However, it is worth noting that everything else (people, buildings, etc.) except for the main characters on their journey and the vehicles they drive themselves are in achromatic shades of gray. At first glance, the reason for the rest of the background being painted in achromatic colors, in contrast to the vivid colors of the animal characters and their means of transportation, seems to be to make the main character stand out even more. But it is possible to think otherwise.
In general, "achroma" is a combination of the negative root "a-" and the ancient Greek word "chroma", which literally means "without color". And achromatic gray color, which consists only of white and black, suggests a dark situation or death, where there is no sight. So modern man and everything in the city he built refer to modern civilization, and the fact that they are painted in achromatic colors suggests that the future of this lifeless modern civilization is unclear. Moreover, we can read the author's message that only animals in vivid colors can guarantee the future not only of modern civilization, but also of all life.
However, the author Jeong Seong-Joon does not want to tell about such a serious problem as it determines the future of the earth. He tries to convey this problem humorously and tactfully. The reason is that it is difficult for modern people to deal with such serious problems, and light things take longer and are easier for everyone to convey than serious ones. This can only be confirmed by considering the fable of Aesop (c. 620 BC - 564 BC), an ancient Greek author who personified friendly animals. The lessons of Aesop's fable have endured through the centuries and have remained in our memory. In this context, it is also worth mentioning the witty satirical element that runs throughout the work. The pirate-like Trump of 1946, the polar bear-shaped smoke from the smokestacks, and the Statue of Liberty wearing a mask bring serious problems of pollution to laughter with humorous codes and remain in the memory.
Where are these animals headed? Where is their final destination? To find out, we need to read the message that all these works want to convey. At the same time, we should also know how their journey began. The first animals to appear in the Journey of the Animals drawn by Jeong Seong-Joon are bears, who live at the North Pole, and penguins, who live at the South Pole. Why did they embark on a long journey? It is because of the current crisis of global warming. It is said that the author came across these problems of the global environment through a TV documentary on global warming. The most representative animals whose survival is threatened in this matter are probably polar bears and Antarctic penguins. Thus, the artist imagines different stories that they experience when they meet by chance while leaving the poles in search of the main cause of warming. In the process, the African penguins are misunderstood as the culprits who stole the iceberg, but in the end, the place they want to arrive at may be the land of the beginning, paradise on earth, or a utopia where all life on earth, including humans, live together.
In this way, the journey of the animals in his work resembles the new song Divine Comedy by Durante degli Alighieri (c. 1265-1321). Dante, who plays the main character in Dante's work, travels under the guidance of Bergilius and Beatrice through Inferno and Purgatorio and finally to Paradise. In the process, Dante encounters the great devil, Lucifer and Judas Iscariot in Hell, and in Purgatory he learns about the love of God in Paradise on Earth, and this journey ends with a happy ending. Jeong Seong-Joon's animals also come from hellish situations. They take many risks and do not lose hope even in desperate situations in the middle of the city. Unlike Dante, however, Jeong Seong-Joon does not describe or show heaven directly in his work. He only wants to hint at the direction we should go. Therefore, their journey will continue and bring many challenges. Sometimes they find themselves in a rather gloomy situation, and the environment they find themselves in may be a ruin that is already worn out. So it can be said that his work paradoxically expects us to face the current problems. As with Edward Norton Lorenz's Butterfly Effect (1917-2008), we do not know what future the plastic containers we unintentionally use will bring. We may no longer be able to breathe fresh air. So we are the paras of Jeong Seong-Joon. We must be ready to join the hopeful journey of animals to Isis, so that there will be a happy ending, an animal comedy, so that it will not end in tragedy.
Kim Byung-hyun