On Hyunjin, Labor, and Memory
Artist Statement by vvtobbi
Stupidity, delusion, selfishness and lust
torment our bodies and possess our minds,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Our sins are stubborn, our contrition lame;
we want our scruples to be worth our while –
how cheerfully we crawl back to the mire;
a few cheap tears will wash our stains away!
(Charles Baudelaire, “To the Reader”)
Inspired by the mixed-media lyricism of Haru (1996), After Life (1998), and All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), through which broader questions of virtual connection, memory, nostalgia, spectatorship, and iconicity are broached, this video piece is “all about” Stray Kids member Hwang Hyunjin. It is an edited compilation of stylized footage of Hyunjin, anchored by his ment from the Maniac World Tour Seoul concert on May 1, 2022 and interspersed with text. Cutting between my hypervisual, multiply overlaid, and nostalgically rendered edits, the words in the video—a scramble of and an interplay between direct quotations and my own written word—mediate the relationship between the idol and the fan editor. The glut of text and image meditates on what it means to consume and be consumed by the idol through the love and labor of editing.
Within the video, poetic excerpts [Hart Crane’s “To Emily Dickinson” (1927) and Charles Baudelaire’s “To the Reader” (1857)], song lyrics [Caetano Veloso’s “Pecado” (1994)], movie quotes (from After Life), and biographical commentary [Yoshiaki Yoshinaga’s writing on the life and art of Japanese manga artist Nekojiru (2004)] are remixed, appropriated, and attributed to a diverse set of voices. These sources (“b,” “goodbye2allthat,” “?,” and “Baudelaire”) blend the specific and the abstract, the real and the virtual. “Baudelaire” represents Baudelaire; “?” names an online persona commenting both on Hyunjin’s ment and on Hyunjin himself; and “b” stands for me, as does “goodbye2allthat,” a second alias that references Joan Didion’s “Goodbye to All That” (1967). Following Haru and All About Lily Chou-Chou, I stylize these sources by imitating the typeface and netspeak of online forums, and their sequential appearance within the video performs a digital conversation occurring in real time.
The source attributions are intentionally ambiguous, emphasizing the editorial manipulation of image and text, and mirroring the mutability of meaning that occurs in video editing. The idol’s ment begins a conversation that circulates and evolves, transformed through reception and fan labor. The editor develops a profound relationship to the idol in this process. The videos I make are not real memories, but the nostalgia is genuine. The blue and grayscale color grading in this particular video evokes a worn and faded feeling of nostalgia. Through such videos, the idol takes on a whole other iconic existence. He comes to various forms of life within our own worlds, as if everything and anything we’ve ever thought could become true. In art, I do not distinguish between fact and fantasy; the dream feels truer than memory. Is that stupidity, delusion, lust? Or a high-minded love?
In Greek philosophy, the highest form of love “is at once a fondness, a transcending of the particular, and a passion without the necessity of reciprocity.” Idols call forth such passionate love from fan editors, who labor without the expectation of reciprocity. In the days upon weeks upon years of centering artistic production around one person, who is at such a distance from myself that they can only ever be a figment, the particular idol loses the singularity of their contours and becomes the eternal idol, an idol icon. Thus the love of a beautiful individual crosses into the “contemplation of beauty itself.” One might question the strength of this love, the merit of the beloved, even the very idea of delivering this love at all.
And what of the idol himself? Ments during concerts can be some of the most vulnerable, yet also most distributed, moments of idols. My use of ments in previous work intrigued non-K-pop fans, who were shocked by the viral circulation and manipulation of what seemed like intensely intimate addresses. They also questioned the authenticity of personal moments shared on stage and performed before a public audience. Editing with the ment has at times felt invasive and exploitative of the emotion of the idol. Sometimes, I have chosen not to do so, as taking from that moment feels as if I am engaging in the effects of the idol rather than with the idol himself. My use of ment footage here works both through and against that feeling of discomfort. I not only spread this moment further, I restage the idol through my own alteration.
“No flower yet withers in your hand.”
Passing through eternity cradling a beauty,
In vain, I desire so much and let nothing wither. Ə
Quotations
“You have to endure to taste the sweet fruit, it makes the fruit all the more meaningful, precious and special. To be loved so much like this, I am not used to it. "Do I deserve this love?" I used to think that. I am still not sure why people like me, why do you like me? I want to be loved for a long time so I will be stronger, so that my existence will not scar you. I don’t know if I’m doing this right, I love that we are all chasing our dreams together, I will work harder so that I will remind you of love, so that you can be proud of me. I’ll do my best, I want you to be happy because of me. Thank you STAY, I love you.”
(Hwang Hyunjin, Stray Kids 2nd World Tour “Maniac,” Seoul, May 1, 2022)
I don’t know if this love is a sin that has any sort of punishment
Or if it’s breaking the honored laws
Of men and of God
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Even if it’s a sin
I love you, I love you no matter what
And even if everything denies me the right
I’ll hold on to this love
(Caetano Veloso, “Pecado” )
“How much of this is planned out, and how much of it is pure instinct.”
(Yoshiaki Yoshinaga, on the Japanese manga artist Nekojiru)
You who desired so much — in vain to ask —
Yet fed you hunger like an endless task,
Dared dignify the labor, bless the quest —
Achieved that stillness ultimately best,
Being, of all, least sought for: Emily, hear!
O sweet, dead Silencer, most suddenly clear
When singing that Eternity possessed
And plundered momently in every breast;
— Truly no flower yet withers in your hand.
The harvest you descried and understand
Needs more than wit to gather, love to bind.
Some reconcilement of remotest mind —
Leaves Ormus rubyless, and Ophir chill.
Else tears heap all within one clay-cold hill.
(Hart Crane, “To Emily Dickinson”)
“But those are just memories and ultimately we end up turning memories into our own images . . . I think what I create would feel a lot more real than some memory.”
(Hirozaku Koreeda, After Life)
