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Bona Park / South Korea b.1977 / Beyond the sea (still) 2018 / Three-channel HD video: 16:58 minutes, colour, sound / Commissioned for APT9 / Supported by Arts Council Korea / Commissioned for APT9. Purchased 2018. Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / © Bona Park
Bona ParkBeyond the sea 2018
Not Currently on Display
For Beyond the sea 2018, Bona Park collaborated with individuals working behind the scenes in the Korean film and television industry: a voice actor, a lighting operator and a stunt double. The work centres on the voice actor in a sound studio, reading a monologue. To one side, a stunt double repeatedly rehearses a kung-fu move in slow motion, while on the other screen, a lighting operator, standing on a beach, flashes out Morse code on a studio lamp.
Park’s video refers to exemplars of filmmaking — from European art house (such as Jean-Luc Godard’s French New Wave cinema classic Alphaville 1965) to classic kung-fu — that explore notions of disappearance, longing and the role of culture in shaping our responses to the world.
Bona Park’s video addresses two important themes for the artist: workplace relations, in particular, thankless jobs; and extinction or redundancy brought about by human activity, technology and economics.
Park finds inspiration in her collaborators (cooks, carpenters and comedians, amongst others) and tells seemingly simple stories; however, broader social themes are always involved. The appeal of her works lies in the unusual game-like situations her collaborators are placed in, and the complex social and historical contexts that these situations address.
Questions
1. What story is the artist trying to tell?
2. Are the three people in the video normally the types of people you would see in front of the camera?
3. What sort of technology do you think could do the job of a voice actor? What about a stunt-man?
Activities
Choose three jobs or professions – try to select three that are related to one another. For each, think about what someone who does that job looks like (e.g. do they wear a uniform?), the place where they work and something that they do as part of their job. Develop an artwork that represents all three of your chosen jobs. What message can you communicate by showing these professions in action alongside one another?