Rushing Wind

The 'Rushing Wind series' show the will of the small movements in life that create the mode of existence of a person,

just as a small breeze blowing into the Pacific could cause tornadoes on the Americas.

The overlapping and repeated sculptural act create the texture and curve of the work, and these become a form of art, gaining its vitality

Fiat Lux

Light is the root of all life

Appearance of light is the fundamental event of creation that is interpreted religiously,

philosophically, culturally and physically.

The title "Fiat Lux" is a Latin word meaning "let there be light." It is from 'fiat lux et facta lux' a

command in Genesis 1:3.

“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Genesis 1:3

The work wishes that the fundamental meaning of creation and formation and the* light of hope

will spread endlessly through abstract shapes that generate and diffuse light.

This is the advent of hope and the metaphor of recovery.

The work begins by inserting a point on the marble surface, and obtains texture and motility

through the superposition of innumerable dots.

The artist's artistic labor practices in his work reveal The artist's will to live, and in the state of

Chaos before creation, The artist defines the acts of constant struggle between the artist and the

material.

Form and texture are determined in the course of the act between The artist and the matte, and

the work gains vitality as a product of the act.

Early in his career, Robert Morris mentioned that solidity and verticality are conditions of artistic existence (especially sculpture) that gravity affects. To grab a person’s attention, it is not enough for a statute to simply lie down due to gravity. To really draw attention and be meaningful, a sculpture has to stand up vertically. After all, a sculpture that stands vertically is consistent with humans’ perception of walking upright. Of course, a sculpture that stands vertically must have rigidity and solidity to maintain its form. Art critics and historians have called this art form the gestalt form, also known as "sculpture as a form.”

However, a group of artists does not agree with the concept of “sculpture as a form.” Some of these artists claim that the vertical form of a sculpture may make the sculpture appear too flawless and thus prevent any possibility of change in the artwork. In addition, some artists claim that “sculpture as a form” causes one to reach a “complete" state too early, thus making the process of achieving completion pointless. Instead of using the gestalt form, these artists create sculptures using the anti-form or formless approach. "The art work is a tool and process to seek myself." Baek also stated: "I have not completed [my artwork] myself[;] my thoughts are constantly moving[,] and nothing can conclude my art work." This means that Baek may fall under the group of artists who do not agree with “sculpture as a form.”

In the Collapse of the Pillars (2015), the author attained a state that cannot be categorized as a “form” by lessening its volume or attacking the property of solid marble pillars with verticalness. On the other hand, Crack Shadow (2016) involves a basalt pillar that has more rigidity, with marble pillars showing a “state of crack” and facing external collapse. These works neutralize the “external appearance” and the “volumetric stability” while actually incapacitating the inherent function of the pillars that connect the upper part and the lower part. The author’s artistic world, being fractured and collapsed, has sustained him.

Fascinatingly, works that are in a state of collapse and fracture are still seen as pillars. The artist stated that, "It’s not completely destroyed, grotesque, or [in a] state of rawness." Given these circumstances, Baek’s works have maintained the existing framework of art. Moreover, it can be said that his artworks are being freed from the domination of the existing frame.

From All Directions (2015) shows a cube being drilled in all directions. "All faces of the cube are completely exposed without hidden parts, and it absorbs and spits everything from the outside to inside" (Working Notes, 2016). The carved and engraved spaces, as well as the holes, make it possible to imagine what may be inside and outside or when it is completely full, which is not possible to imagine when it is filled. According to Eclipse (2015), it is a "precursor that informs the advent of a new light.” It may result in new things that can be built or rebuilt. Just as Dawn Ades made a statement on Dada, the recent works of Baek should certainly show “the cleansing convulsion preceding the great task of construction.”

Then, how can the old collapsed world be (re)built? Fiat Lux (2016) is an interesting case of displaying and combining pieces from sculpture artwork with the assemblage form. In this work, the artist drilled a hole in small stones scattered on the floor and inserted a supporting fixture, thus causing the artwork to have a stranding form. This constructing procedure not only gives verticality to the underlying stones but also gives connections to all of the parts as a “whole.” More than 1,000 stones of various forms, sizes, and colors form a “round” whole structure by interlocking with one another at certain heights. In this case, the procedure for connecting each stone (portion) often faces a moment of an exceptional circumstance. Because both the size and the shape of each stone are different, the procedure requires skills in improvisation and extemporaneousness to attain the overall shape of the work. A round shape is expected overall; however, the process of obtaining the entire shape is not predictable simply by connecting the parts. This corresponds to the metaphor for aspects of human existence that we must fill every unpredictable moment of life: life and death.

Every one of one’s accomplishments achieved in life is always provisional and fragile. Just as it is expressed in Let There be Light (Year), the final shape of the artwork looks soft and provisional at every moment. Unlike an ordinary sculpture having verticality and overcoming gravity, it seems that the work is floating in weightlessness and has a smooth overall shape (round) rather than having rigidity and hardness. It also seems provisional and temporary rather than having solidity. Similar to the body that are involved all direction, repeated carving caused shapes. Butterfly Effect (2015), Neo Pointage (2015), and Light and Shadow (2016) feature the best forms that the artist created in a given condition of the subject. It is just like the “meaning of life” that a human faces in every moment and is willing to try his or her best to discover. According to the artist “amor fati,” which refers to the love of severe fate. In the beginning, I described Baek’s work as anti-form or formless. Now, looking back on his work, his work can be better described as a prefix or suffix of form, such as (anti-), (-less), (re-), (inter-), or (trans-).

Hong Ji-seok, Ph.D., Art Research Professor, Dan-kook University