Future lyricism
- Where are we heading for?

If human's brain is connected to computer, human will become a being moving from this computer to that computer after backing up all the contents in computer.
-Into the Future(2001), Eirik Newth-

In the book『Into the Future, 2001』, Eirik Newth argued that 'robots could become the future mankind', which is not an absolutely groundless story. Currently, the machine has not yet reached the level of autonomously thinking and acting like human. However, a professor of KAIST, Kim, Dae Sik is warning that we will encounter amazing machines equipped with human-like data processing abilities in daily life within 20 years.
If robots become the future mankind just like Eirik Newth's opinion, how the future world would look like? Such future world would bring about the extension of thinking and reflection on the future of mankind through sculpture, painting, photo, and image in the exhibit under the title of by Hak-J Kim.

In spite of its materials related to robotic art or cyborg art, the exhibit aimed to lyrically express the emotional meanings of 'robot' which has been developed from humans' desire to move toward eternal life, rather than aiming to understand correlations between ‘robot's mechanical operation and humans' neural network, or to imagine the future robot shapes evolving with the advanced technology and materials. Also, containing phenomenons showing something in common between digital technology and humans' evolution, the future of mankind depending on the development of digital technology is satirized. Its main significance is to introspect the paradigm of the coming future by mixing the ample energy of Mother Nature with robot as a symbol of human desires.

The Meaning of 'Future Lyricism'
The birth of future lyricism becoming an essential motif of works by Hak-J Kim is originated from a question 'What is the human being as feeling that human is such an insignificant being?' in front of the vast nature in the American West while he was staying in the US of 2003.

He established narratives of future lyricism by extending the sub-theme, 'I am a part of the temporal process and traces'. The conception of works starts from a viewpoint in which 'myself' in the future looks at another 'myself' within temporality involved in the circulation of nature. The role as a theme to express dim memories about human viewed in the viewpoint of the future into the artist's lyrical sensitivity, has been contained in the word, 'Future Lyricism'.

In other words, replacing the question 'The truth of human is the truth of nature? The truth of nature is myself?' with a question of robots that will be existing in time and space of the future, the artist virtually realizes the answer to the question 'The truth of robot is the truth of nature? The truth of nature is machine?'.
Through the work predicting and showing the sensitivities viewing the current nature where we are living that is the past in the position of future time under the supposition that evolved robot is emotional, thinking about 'What meaning is given from robot's sensitivity to human?' is contained in the word, 'Future Lyricism'.

To the artist Hak-J Kim, the future lyricism could mean temporality compressing the past, present, and future into one through enormous nature including human. The vast natural landscape is the result of that every life has evolved linearly, and also means the circular place of life. In other words, to the artist, the vast natural landscape is the source of his sensitivity, and also the symbol of life circulation reflecting paradigm of the current mankind who creates robots of the future mankind.

The Symbol of Monkey Robot and Turtle

The important keywords to understand the exhibit are 'monkey robot' and 'turtle'. The monkey robot and turtle shown in the work contain a symbolic meaning combining human in the past, present, and future. Here, the monkey robot symbolizes mankind artificially evolving with the development of digital machine. Contrary to the monkey robot mixed with its facial shape reminding of anthropoid ape, obese modern man, and machine man in the future, the turtle is an icon contrasting to the monkey robot as the vast natural landscape has been developed into an alive organism just as shown from digital print which is another work in this exhibit. The blind monkey robot with a cane following the turtle contrasts the evolution of mankind and the simultaneity of Mother Nature.
The blind monkey robot with a cane follows the turtle going back to the place of birth to lay eggs. Just like birds, the turtle travels a long way and comes back to the same spot to lay eggs every time as the magnetite mineral in its head reacts to the earth magnetism. As a magnetic mineral, the magnetite is a material for the needle of a compass. According to the natural scientific knowledge, turtles can tell the direction and also where they are in the sea by using magnetic field.
As an icon symbolizing the natural law of the universe and vase nature, the turtle naturally evolves through the circulation of life as a part of the earth while the monkey robot is expressed as stupid look aiming to govern or separate from everything in nature rather than being a part of nature just as shown from the look trying to completely remove the degenerated tailbone as feeling shame to have evolved from nature just like .

Humour and Wit

The works of have contemplative elements making us think and view them from distance rather than letting us concentrate on the appearance or composition style as they show parodic, humorous, and satirical scenes. In the aspect of message, they induce lyricism generating loneliness and sorrow.

has replaced and parodied by Michelangelo with the shape of ape, human, and robot. The artist parodied it to deliver the message that robots created by the future mankind build up their own independent world. However, it contains comic elements of parody.

The satiric element can be seen from . The monkey robot lies down to take a break as a newborn baby as the symbol of mankind is dangling from its weight. The icons of the newborn baby and monkey robot can have something in common with the icons of the turtle and blind robot.

Humorous scenes include that the monkey robot cuts off his own tail or the monkey robot in the posture of a blind man follows the turtle in , or dreaming of robot through the shape of a girl lying with her face down in .

Hak-J Kim's exhibit held under the theme of is the place for thinking and viewing the period of artificial intelligence including the future cyborg and robot, caused by the development of digital technology and human desires. The artist has no intention to show the artificial development of human's biological functions into cyborg, robot and artificial intelligence using the advanced technology ad media, nor to show designs of SF robots stimulating human's imagination. The artist's intention is to give us an opportunity to introspect mankind once again by showing the future landscape that could be caused by the development of science & technology and human desires in the form of sculpture called monkey robot and various methods like painting, digital print, and image work.

Cho, Gwan Yong(Art Critic & Dr in Aesthetics) 2015