소개말

나는 붓 대신 카메라로 그림을 그린다. 여기에 작품들은 순수한 사진들로 만들어졌다. 내가 담아내는 사진은 오직 나만에 독창성과 개성을 중요시하는 창작품이다. 이 기법은 사진계에서는 오직 유일무이한 처음으로 시도되는 나만에 실험적 도전이다.
I draw a picture with a camera instead of a brush. These pieces were purely made of photos. The photos that I capture are creations that are expressed with my own colour and my own originality and individuality. This technique is my own experimental challenge that is unique and attempted by myself for the very first time in the field of photography.


▷ Background of Photos (배경)
I am representing nature at the boundary of photography and painting. The main background of my photos is the villages surrounding the coal-mining towns where I grew up and spent my childhood in poverty. That place has unique trees growing that are different from those in any other region. It is a great place to take photographs especially as birches have thick and bent roots.


▷ The Work Process (과정)
In order to pictorially express a piece of photo, dozens, hundreds or even more than 3000 cuts of photos need to be taken. Within that process, two steps which are the method of shooting and method of mixing are needed to complete a photo that yields a look of oil painting, pastel or watercolor and the look is based on the method and flow.


▷ Method of Shooting
The shooting is done without the help of a tripod and needs continuous pressing of the shutter at an immobile posture. At least a few dozens, at most a few thousands of photos need to be taken and once the shutter is pressed, the body is not allowed to move at all. As time passes by and the shooting progresses, minor and minute shaking and trembling occur all throughout the body. I use these shaking and trembling movements to shoot and create my pieces. This method requires a huge amount of photos to be taken to create an image that I aim for and requires endless time and effort. It also brings physical pain and risk factors as the body is not allowed to make a single movement.


▷ Method of Mixing
I use an editing program to mix the photos that I have taken. The first mixing process is done by randomly shuffling the files. This means that the photos that were taken sequentially have their orders removed. The original order of the photos become meaningless and they all get a new random order which naturally completes the primary step of the mixing process. This is similar to the process of mixing flour to make a dough. The secondary step of the mixing process is continued right after the primary one is done. This step too, uses the method of overlapping images. It would be easy to understand the process if you think of scenes and layers overlapping on top of each other. Within the process of overlapping, the photos slowly change and yield a pictorial image.


▷ Flow (흐름도)
All the infinitesimal particles that are shown in the final outcome of the piece are made up each and every photo that was taken. The details of the skin that are stained on the surface of the pictures get concealed or disappear little by little. Numerous particles are joined together to become one and the stacking job is accomplished through the long process of layering. They are joined, broken into small pieces and mashed all together to make a result of an image that seems abstract, semi-abstract, even hyper-realistic or surreal. This could also be explained as the boundary of shaped forms and non-shaped forms that show visualization and complanation. It is also perhaps similar to endlessly crushing and grinding the same flower petals and leaves on a mortar.

As more and more photos get mixed in, the transformation within the particles of the piece change little by little as well. The same applies to the depth of colour, the texture of the image, the degree of roughness, the level of depth and the change of feeling. Above these, contrast, tone, shade, saturation, intensity, tone area, arrangement of colours (mixture of colours), subtle depths of feelings all gradually change due to the increase in the number of photos. There is also a huge influence from the techniques of the artist. The image could also be changed according to the mixing method or process. Millions of photos are filled and thrown away to obtain a single result. Pictures that are overlapped or have long exposure are common in that they disappear and soon get destroyed. This is perhaps similar to the remote and dark lives that we are living at this moment.


▷ Metonymy of Memory (기억의 환유)
My photography is the sequence of moments and time. Moments are the rhythm of colours and the combination of flow. Moments refresh my mind and lead me to interaction. My photography is a tool that helps me to heal myself. It is the secretive pathway and interaction that is hidden deep inside of me. It is visual and linguistically semiologic. This is a flow of time and space that is spread like a panorama within an archaic black-and-white film. It is nostalgia and is the cycle of life. It is providence.

My photography is abstract and unrealistic. However, within that unrealistic image appears a faint realistic image. This delivers beauty and fun of little discoveries to the audience at the boundary of imaginative image and realistic image.

My photography is rough, crumpled and destructive compared to the stereotypical photographs and is expecting for a new creation of past memories and experiences. My photography is standing at the boundary of painting and photograph, boundary of dream and reality and boundary of technique and emotion.

My photography displays the world of innocence without secularity.




[평론글]

소통과 치유
-김석원(고려대 연구교수 / 사진평론가)

중요한 것은 앤디 워홀과 게르하르트 리히터와 같은 화가들이 사진의 기술적 특정을 회화에 접목시켰다면 박기수의 사진은 거꾸로 미술의 특성인 추상적인 효과와 회화에서 사용할 법한 인위적인 붓 터치를 사진에 접목했다는 점이 다르다. 이런 발상은 물감 혹은 꽃가루를 뿌려서 완성한 회화적 기법을 연상시킨 것이다. 그렇다면 작가의 시도는 회화에서는 간단한 기법이지만 사진은 쉽게 구사하기 어려운 방법인데 굳이 이렇게 어려운 방법을 선택한 이유는 무엇일까? 그것은 사진작가가 지닌 작업방식과 그에 따른 내면적인 태도와 관련이 있다.

사진에 각인된 창작의 고통과 치유, 그리고 개인적인 괴로움은 작품의 외형과 거친 기표로 표현되어 무거운 심경과 예민한 감성을 동시에 느낄 수 있게 하였다. 박기수의 사진에 드러난 중첩되어있는 이미지는 유형과 무형의 공간 속 미묘한 찰나를 포착하고 절묘한 타이밍에서 무한할 것만 같은 반복행위에서 멈추게 된다.



쌓인 시간, 사라진 시간
- 박영택 (경기대교수, 미술평론가)

이 흐릿한 이미지는 보는 이들에게 있어 몽상을 권유한다. 어렴풋하게 드러난 형상을 애써 그려본다. 그러니 이 사진은 사진을 보는 이의 감정 상태에 따라, 본인들의 기억과 경험에 따라 자유롭게 해석이 되고 재경험 되도록 유인하고 있다. 이미지는 관자의 능동적인 참여를 요구한다. 관자의 마음속에 다양한 의미작용을 유발시키는 ‘흔적’만을 남겨주기 때문이다. 또한 이 사진은 실제와 환영의 구분을 은연중 해체시키는 도구가 된다. 그러니까 시각만을 요구하는 것이 아니라 온 몸으로 지각하는 동시에 감각적인 총지각을 요구하고 기억과 경험을 발생시킨다. 작가는 의도적으로 이미지를 일종의 미완으로 처리한다. 그래서 부재를 경험케 한다.

박기수의 사진 속 대상은 다양한 색채로 뭉개져 있다. 꽃이나 나무 등의 흐릿한 자취가 암시적으로 부유한다. 얼핏 봐서는 그대로 그림, 순수한 색상들이 혼합으로 이루어진 그림이다. 이것은 기존 사진에 기대하고 있는 명증성, 기록성, 객관성과 같은 것을 의도적으로 무의미하게 만든다.

순간 그림과 사진의 경계가 모호해진다. 모더니즘 회화, 색채추상이 그림을 이루는 존재론적 조건인 평평한 캔버스의 표면과 물감과 붓질에 천착하듯이 그래서 회화가 특정 대상을 재현시키는데 종속되지 않고 그 자체로서 자족적인 조형적 질서를 이루듯이 이 사진 역시 주어진 대상 세계에서 출발해 이를 보여주는, 재현하는 사진에서 벗어나 재현과 비재현 사이에 서 있는 사진, 구상과 추상 사이에 그런 사진을 보여준다. 그것이 문득 비현실적인 꿈이나 몽상의 한 자락처럼 비친다.