Contextsby means of distinct and fixed functions. Kim sang- gil emphatically underscores that
form of exposure through a visual confrontation with real- size prints.
in his dealing with images, Kim sang- gil seems to be inspired by the conceptual
and aesthetic- autonomous approach of the düsseldorf school, i.e. Bernd and hilla
Becher and their students andreas gursky, axel hutte, and Candida hofer. Yet,
there is an important difference between the photographic images of the düsseldorf
school and the south- Korean artist. The ultramodern images of the germans are
rooted firmly in a historic tradition. Their images clearly demonstrate a historic, or
if you will, archaeological consciousness. such consciousness is characterized by a
historic accumulation and a process of signification produced by a continuous series of
references. as a starting point for his artistic production, Kim sang- gil adopts a form
of consciousness focusing on the functionality of the here- and- now while erasing any
historic accumulation. more than that, his conception of consciousness does not even
permit any form of historic signification. Kim sang- gil’s view seems to incorporate
a deleuzian process of deterritorialization where notions such as accumulation and
forms of resonance are replaced by the mutations and accelerations of the here- and-
now while producing a multiplicity of streams of thought. The deleuzian movement
of deterritorialization connects with the exposure of conditional functionality that, as
appeared above, is a theme in Kim sang- gil’s work.
however, in a deleuzian sense, the movement of deterritorialization implicates the
attack of a counter force called reterritorialization. in this combat, the flowing, decoding
movement of deterritorialization is resegmented by the power of reterritorialization as a
continuous process. Kim sang- gil’s Remodel Series seem to portray such a process. The
Remodel photographs show the empty interiors of vacant offices and other working spaces.
obviously, we have arrived in the twilight zone of functionality where the traditional,
clear- cut situation of functionality has stopped. no longer is the space a lobby, a station
Figure 19.1 Kim sang- gil, University Series, 2007.