The Michigan Daily michigandailycom Thursday, October 11, 2012
T he Internet is now our bookstore. It's our auc- niment. According to Natsu Oyobe, associate curacor of k
cion houoe, matchmaker, entercainer, newspa- Asian art at UMMA and curator of YHCHI's new instal-
per and the first place we go for bad medical lation, the model has proven to be a very adaptive and',
advice. But is the Internet also our new art gallery? The expandable form.
pioneering work of Seoul-based corporation Young-Hae "YHCHI's work has become increasingly complex as it
Chang Heavy Industries, whose newly commissioned
work is on display at the University of Michigan Museum exploits the three-dimensional possibilities of the medi-a
of Art, would argue that it is um, a development seen in video works by other artists
since the 1990s," Oyobe said.
Though selectively calling themselves a corporation,. Often their text is quick, nearly unreadable, with bum-.z
YHCHI actually consists of two collaborative artists, bastic jazz or percussion. Entering their new installation
Young-hat Chang, a South Korean native, and Chinese- can feel likesa sensory overload, surrounded by eight pan-
American Marc Voge. The former is YHCHI's chief els that throw text, piano and accordion at the viewer.
executive officer and the latter its chief information offi- But most striking are the muted moments, like when the T
cer. The two artists began working together in 1999 after gallery goes silent and flickers "***" on every panel. Tak-
meeting in Paris. log a breath, one could try to capture the swirling subject
Why do the collaborators work as a quasi-corporation? matter just before the work begins galloping away again.
In a 2005 interview the artists explained that, "' YHC' is Oyobe writes in the show's companion book that
for Young-Hae and 'HI' is for Marc. We changed Marc "(their) work confronts the viewer with stark contrasts -
into 'Heavy Industries,' because Koreans love big romps- the grand and the mundane, official history and private
nies and Marc doesn't mind being objectified and capital- history, violence and tranquility, sacred and profane, and
ized on." international and local - at high velocity and with a bril-
Their answer, blatant as it is nuanced, with a sardonic liant sense of humor and irony."
tinge, is essential to the concept and the understanding of This is clear in their piece from 12 years ago, "Samsung
their work. In a world where corporations can be viewed Means to Come," in which a sexually unsatisfied house-
as real as people, with ideologies and agendas - think wife experiences her first orgasm only while dreaming
Chick-Fil-A - YHCHI both embraces that trend and about South Korea's largest electronic company. A truly
rejects it, forcing you to reconcile the discrepancy, bizarre account, told as if it is a confession, YHCHI's -
absurd work points to the all-too-real domination of con-
Sensory overload sumer culture in our minds.
"And their critique extends to the viewer of the story as
In order to pick apart these modern incongruities, well: The housewife's ecstatic state of mind is very much
YHCHI adopted the use of Flash-based basic text flicker- an allegory of our image of the comfortable life, surround-
ing on a minimalistic template with syncopated accompa- See DIGITAL GALLERY, Page 7A
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