Interview with Chang, Ho
By Ed Suh
There is no virgin here. There are no figures here. There are only abstract colors here. There was nothing in Chang, Ho's piece of art from the start. It is us who tend to insert the meaning to the art. The meaning that what we think it would be. Our instinctive expectation for meaning of the art work guides us into Chang, Ho's forest of tricky abstraction. We are only to find ourselves lost in his forest since there were nothing to be expected from the beginning. We are lost in search for the meaning. And our little hope that the true intention will be found when we make ourselves out of the forest would not be rewarded. Because there is no such a thing.
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-It is a photograph but it's hard to tell if there are figures in there. Very abstract. This might be a strange question but, why? Why did you do this?
I really can't tell for sure. As many other pieces of many other artists do, something just struck me. While I was watching a TV show-it was very impulsive-I found myself adjusting my camera in front of TV screen for long exposure. And I cannot explain why I did that but that act produced the photo that I would never take consciously. It was very different from what I usually take. It possessed no figures but only afterimage of images. I found that interesting. Provoking. What is this? That little curiosity along with little fun made me start doing this process seriously.
-The title says it all. There is no virgin here. And the contents within it, The Porn movie. It sounds a bit risky and provoking at the same time. How did you come up with this idea?
Interesting. If I hadn't told anybody about the title or the subject in it, they wouldn't feel uncomfortable nor provoked. That's the thing which I wanted to assess. People tend to believe what they want to believe. People want to remember what they want to remember. Regardless of what truly happened. Abstract thoughts are very naive. It can be distorted so easily in our minds that it let ourselves into the oblivion. And I believe this idea of distorted memories influenced the selection of th subject.
The porn movies are very popular in people's lives but it is never intentionally brought out as a topic for a conversation nor discussion. I wanted to weave between the subject-the porn-that we barely want to talk about and the oblivion-the tendency of people believing what they want to believe-that we live in.
Abstract image arouses curiosity. This naturally leads us to abstract thoughts. We see and then we expect. Sometimes those expectation are rewarded and sometimes it is not. I didn't intend any provocation. As people expected some kind of meaning in my pieces, I was doing the same thing, expecting many different reactions from the people.
[HMJM] VGD062 Miho Wakabayashi 2010-03.avi _1, 50x37.5 inch, Archival Pigment Print-I would like to know how it is made.
I played the porn movie on the screen. I fixed my camera in front of it with long exposure. Simple. But the result is amazing. Abstract photos. Photos are meant to remember the past precisely. But when you do long exposure, only the afterimages remains. Just like the pieces of the memory of the past which we are fond of idealizing
-How was the reaction of the people?
I found very different reactions from very different people. There were people who thought it was disturbing and there were people who find it very intriguing. There was even a person who couldn't stand me just because of the subject I picked.
-Are you satisfied with your work?
Personally? Yes. I usually take very traditional images. Things like streets, nature or anything that is natural. I hate it when my photos are out of focus. So yeah, I am satisfied with what I've done just because I never done this kind of style. It is very meaningful to me. And I like the fact that there were more variety of reactions from people than I expected. The subject, porn movie, is not capable of arousing sympathy from both men and women but I'm okay with it since I haven't put much thought into it. It wasn't about sympathy. I just take photos and people would just react to my work. And I enjoy their reaction.
-How do you see yourself as an artist?
Camera is one of the easiest tools you can get to produce art. You press the shutter and then camera does the rest. It doesn't take whole bunch of time or effort as painting does. So it is much harder in my opinion. Making the gorgeous photo in a simplest angle with one press on the shutter is a pain that all the photographers share.
And about myself, I don't think I'm an artist, yet. I'd say I'm merely a photographer. I'm just a technician. I don't have enough knowledge to even talk about my own pieces. I just love taking photos. I love the past. Therefore, I love photography which embraces and is made for the past. Past is, to me, like a place where it is covered in fog and you can hardly remember what they were like. But you know it is so beautiful.
-What is your next big step? Plan for the future?
Future is always hard for me. I'm always near the past. But when I can, I would love to take photos of things that I don't really want to talk about. Things like my weakness. So that I can free myself from my weakness by taking photo of it and seeing it through my own eyes. Making it visible so that I don't have to be scared of. That's all I can think of my future, for now. Future is for future me. Until then, I just want to stick to the present where I can focus on the beauty of the past.
Chang, Ho
2011 Parsons The New School of Design, New York, Photography, MFA
2008 Parsons The New School of Design, New York, Photography, BFA
2006 Sangmyung University, Seoul, Photograhy, BFA
Exhibitions
2011 2 Persons Exhibition, Chelsea West Gallery, New York
2010 State of Flux, Aperture Gallery, New York
2007 "Feast" Show, Three Gallery, New York
Experience
2009 Hearst Magazine Corp-Studio D, New York, Freelance Assistant Photographer
2007-2009 Parsons The New School of Design, New York, Student Technician (Computer Lab, Equipment Cage Room, Photography Department)
2008 Vanilla Studio(Commercial/Fashion Studio), Korea, Part-time Assistant Photographer
2007 Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea, New York, Main Photographer of promotional event "Sparkling Korea 2007"
2007 Studio PLAY(Commercial/Fashion Studio), Korea, Part-time Assistant Photographer
2006-현재 GQ, Cosmopolitan Korea, Elle Korea, Vogue Girl Korea, Madame Figaro Korea, CeCI, Muin, FRIDAY, FashionBiz(NY), Correspondent Photographer
2002-2005 COSMOPOLITAN Korea, Studio LUX, Korea, Assistant Photographer
Homepage : http://www.studioabnormal.com/
[AKNR] FSET047 Infiltration Blowout Agent -Hotaru Akane.avi _1, 50x37.5 inch, Archival Pigment Print
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