In collaboration with Sujin Seo /// production: C2Artechnology
korinsky/seo creates a moving tornado in a closed space. With this indoor tornado, they interweave natural phenomenon with biophilia, humans' innate tendency to admire nature and seek connections with it. korinsky/seo examines inseparable relations between humans and nature and creates intangible experiences such as feeling one with a much larger and more powerful natural world. Inspired by storm chasing, a rather irrational and eccentric human activity that combines both natural disasters and biophilia, they have named their work ‘stormchaser’. Albeit life-threatening, storm chasing is chiefly a recreational endeavor. The reason for this can include the mystery of not knowing precisely what will unfold, simple beauty of the views afforded by the sky and land, intangible experiences such as feeling one with a much larger and more powerful natural world and pure thrill seeking.
In ‘stormchaser’, korinsky/seo extends their research on biophilia to the topic of transcendence and sublime experience in nature. Nature is one of the most widely recognized sources of transcendent emotion. Various recent studies have demonstrated nature’s power to induce intense emotions. These studies show that sublime emotion is defined by two conceptual components: awe, and inspiring energy. It is defined by feelings of fear, threat, vulnerability, fragility, and respect for nature which is perceived as powerful, and mysterious.
We get these feelings in the presence of something vast that challenges our understanding of the world, like looking up at millions of stars in the night sky or marveling at the birth of a child. Inspiring energy is defined by feelings of vitality, joy, energy, oneness (unity between the self and the natural world), freedom, eternity, and harmony with the universe. By creating an artificial tornado, korinsky/seo seeks to stimulate and elicit transcendent emotions from the audience.
korinsky/seo plays with the different components of the exhibition, one of which is a tornado siren, a warning mechanism for natural disasters and also a triggering device for subconscious fears. They layer multiple siren sounds with slightly different frequencies and let them modulate through room acoustics. They will be creating eerie dissonance but at one point it will create a rare moment of harmonizing. Their custom-made sirens made of bench grinders and speed controllers will create angelic harmony which is ironic coming from a device that is usually used for warning for life and death.
For audience experience, the scenery shall be ambivalent. Through this shift between dissonance and harmony, ‘stormchaser’ will stimulate various sensory connections and deal with the hopes and despair of human existence in relation to nature. Nature, aesthetics, fear, agitation, panic and death merge imperceptibly, and the audience repeats the journey between fear and relief. Underneath the dark and heavy atmosphere of the work lies the human instinct to long for a better future.
korinsky/seo plays with the different components of the exhibition, one of which is a tornado siren, a warning mechanism for natural disasters and also a triggering device for subconscious fears. They layer multiple siren sounds with slightly different frequencies and let them modulate through room acoustics. They will be creating eerie dissonance but at one point it will create a rare moment of harmonizing. Their custom-made sirens made of bench grinders and speed controllers will create angelic harmony which is ironic coming from a device that is usually used for warning for life and death.
For audience experience, the scenery shall be ambivalent. Through this shift between dissonance and harmony, ‘stormchaser’ will stimulate various sensory connections and deal with the hopes and despair of human existence in relation to nature. Nature, aesthetics, fear, agitation, panic and death merge imperceptibly, and the audience repeats the journey between fear and relief. Underneath the dark and heavy atmosphere of the work lies the human instinct to long for a better future.
