installation

SENSES SERIES "SMELL"
clay,oil, canvas,lily,2x3 monitor,VCR

In a corner of that canvas is a three- inch video screen that shows a movie of alternating images of flowers and noses, to the sound of Vivaldi’s "Spring".

This installation also uses painting and ceramics. A hole is cut out of the canvas of a small painting with a black and yellow background. In that hole is a ceramic ear around a smaller video screen. Both are surrounded with bubble wrap. The video and sound playing on the screen is of fingers bursting bubble wrap.

SENSES SERIES "SOUND" clay,plastic warps,cancas,2.5" monitor,VCR

SENSES SERIES "SIGHT" cardoor,clay,wire,mirror,3" monitor,VCR

The video shows sunrise landscapes rolling by, to the sound of a car radio changing channels. This video was filmed from a car traveling through the countryside.

In front of the ceramic neck is an orchid flower in rusted steel, which represents the meaning of my Korean name "Rahn". In place of the head of the ceramic neck, I placed a steel box showing a video screen through a one by two- inch square hole. The box and its position represent my mind. The video shows a part of my impression of myself. The movie begins with a clip of me writing with my finger on a window wet with condensation. I write "boukeruhoom" in Korean, which means "shyness".

SELF-PORTRAIT steel,clay,oil,canvas,window, 2.3" monitor,VCR

ONGGI is an installation that shows an important aspect of the food culture of Korea. An onggi is a big clay vat in which foods, such as kimchi, are fermented. The movie is of pottery forming on a spinning wheel, and of finished onggi in the back yard of a house in Korea.

This is a very dynamic film, of Korean and American people making funny faces, alternating with Jangsng, traditional Korean expressive faces carved in wood. I filmed these faces the last time I went to Korea. The sound is a variety of drum rhythms. My Jangsng installation is typical of my artistic style in that it takes images from my experience and infuses it with an emotional response.

It shows the side of me that makes traditional shapes in clay in a modern context.In traditional Korean pottery studios, it has been a practice for generations to only select work that comes out perfect in shape and in resulting glaze color. All others are smashed on the floor. In fact, after a kiln firing, there may be one hundred broken pots and three that are kept for sale. In my eyes, my philosophy of practice cannot compare with the dedication to perfection demonstrated in the ancient custom of pottery breaking, but I wanted to show respect for that tradition by practicing and depicting it, albeit to a lesser degree.

POTTER'S DIGNITY pottery, fabric,clay, woodboard

THE PAINTER paintings,window, brush,VCR, projector

ONGGI fabric,clay,VCR, projector

JANGSNG AND FACES painting,clay sculpture,VCR,projector

Rahn Koo Binkley

Public Art of Infinite Potential and Variety. . .

INSTALLATION