Dim-Lit And Deep, Chul Hyun Ahn's Meditative Installations Of (In)finite Space

Remember Lumpens' immersive projection project GRID that virtually swallowed a dancer into a linear abyss? Or what about Jeong Moon Choi‘s depth-defying drawings with string and black lights? And don't forget, pretty much every projection mapping project we've come across thus far. All of these works and many more shed light on a movement born during California’s sunny psychedelic 60s—the Light and Space Movement.

Since the likes of James Turrell, Doug Wheeler, and others, conceptualizations of space with light remain an ever-popular (and perhaps slightly exhausted) medium of artistic expression. But when looking at these works from Korean multimedia artist Chul Hyun Ahn, something new seems to be brewing. Ahn manages to revitalize this weathered curiosity through the geopolitical context of his work.

By combining geometric painting and the practice of meditation, he incorporates a Southeast Asian point of departure in his exploration of the environment and our capacity for active and inactive influence. LEDs of vibrant warm reds and seductive cool blues, mirrors, plywood, and even real branches from trees are meticulously arranged in a finite framework but extended with mirrors into the possibility of the infinite.

Forked Series #11

Branch

Forked Series #23

Mirror Drawing #2

Void

Mirror Drawing #4

Forked Series #22

[Photo: HADA Contemporary]