Block by Seulki Lee

Artist list

Seulki Lee

The transparent texture may irritate you to imagine what might be there, but these colorful layers are also very interesting themselves, and you will be happy when you see them.
Electronic devices having many functions perform new facility and it requires various resistors, chips, and transistors for operation. Then, they are mounted on a circuit board according to the design. The work of Seulki Lee’ reminds us of a mysterious electronic circuit, causing curiosity. The small electronic components seem to play the role of something interlocked.

Seulki's work seems to have been inextricably linked to industrial electronic components. Various electronic devices are changing our lives in various ways unawares. Most people are just concerned about the appearance and operation of the device without knowing the properties of the devices, and are not interested in what parts and devices are inside the device. However, Lee Seulki has a special liking for them since childhood:
 
My own special experience is when, as a child, I used to sit at the table waiting for dinner, and I stared at the orange chandelier hanging above the table. I remember clearly the lighted orange chandelier shining on the clear glass table and the overlapped light making subtle patterns. It was a sacred ceremony for me to stare at the patterns before the meal. I have created endless stories by looking at complex shapes. Every story begins with the observation of things. Sometimes you discover new qualities at familiar things when you look closely. Circuit, resistance, pipe. I closely connect these familiar elements to create an “algorithm”. This algorithm has no operational purpose, but, looking at the final shape, you can imagine an interesting story.

Such as machine, circuit board, plastic and stainless steel, the main materials that led the secondary and tertiary industries are now traditional and familiar to those who welcome the 4th industry. The semiconductors and circuitry, which are called cutting edge of technology, are ready to say goodbye in the Post-Digital Era. Plastic structures that dominate the mass product are also rapidly becoming lost by Ubiquitous Computing. Seulki often encountered abandoned computer parts and plastic devices on the Cheonggyecheon road in Seoul. She thinks of their energetic movements that have forgotten and feel some strange nostalgia.

Vacuum Forming, which is an industrial production method, is mainly used to package almost all products from consumables such as batteries to electronic devices such as computers and mobile phones. The vacuum-formed plastic shell is discarded at the end of the mission as soon as the box is unpacked. We are only interested in the things in the shell. What are the criteria for dividing the nucleus and the skin, the new and the old? 
Why is the plastic a new kernel before, now becoming an abandoned shell?

With such thoughts and nostalgic plots, Seulki re-combined the traditional materials that were eliminated by the digital age and created new value. The exciting materials, colors, and various shapes of electronic components she chose, stimulate our imagination and lead us to explore a new way to enjoy the work. Each part is used as an element of meaning transmission and describes human death and life, stimulation and reaction, beginning and end, process and result. Her work becomes another 'device' connected to the body by being worn. This becomes a mediator, showing the relationship with people paradoxically.