Is what you see the same as what I
see?
Hye Jin Mun (Art Critic)
Imagine if someone were to ask you like this, “Is what you see the same as what I see?” Some may simply brush off by taking this question as a bizarre remark with a laugh, while others might wonder if that person is colorblind or has some form of color deficiency. However, if that question is philosophical or medical, answering it wouldn't be so easy. Let's take a serious approach to that question to better understand Yoonjae Lee's work. At the most fundamental level, the answer depends on the degree of similarity between a series of cells activated in the retina, thalamus, and visual cortex, as well as memories activated by light in the frontal lobe.1) Since our life experiences cannot be the same, let's set aside the issue of the intensity of neural cells stimulating memories. The remaining concern is a physiological one. Due to our different genetic makeup, cellular aspects cannot be identical, so what I see and what you see also cannot be completely identical. However, if you ask whether you see things in the same way as I do, then the conversation changes. Human eyes have two types of photoreceptors called rods and cones, and most people have three types of cones: long-wavelength cones (red cones), middle-wavelength cones (green cones), and short-wavelength cones (blue cones).2) Sometimes, when there are defects or abnormalities in the cones, people may perceive colors differently. In such cases, positive and negative reactions can vary depending on the functioning of their sensory organs. Although the focus may shift slightly, let's delve a little deeper. So, is what I see always identical? Even identical shades of gray colors under the same lighting conditions are perceived as brighter or darker depending on the surrounding luminance. Ultimately, this lengthy self-questioning leans towards how complex and diverse seeing is and how absurd it is to assume a consistent and uniform way of seeing.
Yoonjae Lee's Optic Quartet(2023) departs from a similar problematique. The motivation for this work can be traced back to Only True Voyage(2021), created a few years ago. The artist, who has nearsightedness and astigmatism, has been constantly urged to have LASIK (Laser-assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) surgery by people around her. However, the artist, who has been enjoying the blurry and diffused view when looking at landscapes with her naked eyes, was always uncomfortable with such suggestions. One day, when the artist took off her glasses while on a bus, she saw a blurry nightscape illuminated by scattered lights. And she was captivated by this spectacle of a new and unfamiliar landscape as if she had discovered a new world.3) Wanting to showcase the abstract beauty of out-of-focus scenery, the artist created camera filters that imitated the shape of her own corneas to represent what she sees with her naked eyes. Laboratory.Vision(2020~) is an online archive that records the research process for this. With the corneal topography equipment that precisely measures the curvature and shape of the cornea, the artist obtained three-dimensional coordinate data of her corneas. After processing this data as a 3D model on the computer, the artist produced artificial corneas using PMMA (Methyl Methacrylate) through the CNC (Computer Numerical Control) cutting. They are the filters used in Only True Voyage.
Optic Quartet expands upon the methodology of Only True Voyage to multiple individuals. The concept of the ‘only true voyage,’ as Marcel Proust stated, is not about visiting unfamiliar lands but rather seeing the world through someone else's eyes. The artist literally puts this idea into practice. In order to obtain landscapes seen from various perspectives, Yoonjae Lee recruited corneal data donors through Instagram and obtained CSV (Comma-separated Values) files containing precise coordinates data of their corneal topography.4) Based on this data, she produced bespoke filters that imitate the shape of corneas of four donors. The cameras with different corneal filters capture an LED light in real time and emit it onto the screens. Occasionally, vibrations caused by wind or opening and closing doors can cause the slight movement of LED light, which is faithfully reflected in the images on the screens. We are witnessing how an LED light looks like through someone else's eyes! Despite the blurry-looking lights could be unfamiliar because of their great magnification, some aspects can be easily perceived even by those without medical knowledge. Firstly, each LED light image on the screens has unique shapes, and secondly, a notably larger diameter image is observed on the far-right side of the screen. Since everyone's eyes are different, it is natural for light source images to vary. Whereas, the light source image with larger diameters indicates the severe nearsightedness of its owner. In cases of nearsightedness, images have a shorter focal length compared to those with normal vision, resulting in a relatively greater spread or blurry image. The related works, Eye Measurement (2023) and Discovery of Questions (2023), contribute to the interpretation of Optic Quartet. Comprised of a total of 120 photos in an 8x15 format, Eye Measurement uses visual representation to illustrate how light appears differently as optical acuity changes from normal vision to nearsightedness. Eight frames with black backgrounds indicate the eye condition of each participant. While the first participant has relatively similar and good visual acuity in both eyes, the fourth participant exhibits severe nearsightedness as both selected images are hung on the right side of the installation. On the other hand, the second and third participants show significant differences in visual acuity between their both side eyes, revealing anisometropia. In Discovery of Questions, which represents the thermal balloon image used for vision testing at ophthalmic clinics, the scenery viewed by participants' naked eyes finally becomes clarified. As predicted in Optic Quartet and Eye Measurement, the fourth participant has the most blurred vision, while the first and second participants do not differ significantly.
The images that visualize the difference in visions advocate for a different way of seeing rather than presenting objective data. The artist questions whether visual arts which are based on the act of seeing have ever considered the different optical conditions each of us has. Self-Portrait (2023), taken through the corneal filters of the artist, reflects her idea that showing how things are seen through her eyes explains herself better than taking a photo of her face.5) Special Thanks to (2023) is also a special gift for corneal data donors by reproducing how the artist appears through their eyes. It respects differences and establishes intimate solidarity between the artist and them. These lead to two thoughts: when did this kind of reasoning begin, and what does it signify? Attention to errors or differences reveals deep origins and consistency. Please Stay Annoying (2014), which embraces printer errors as abstract beauty, and 243mm (2015), which represents the artist's foot size between 240mm and 245mm with an unintended incorrect silk screen print, indicate that the artist had already recognized the violence of standardization demanding conformity. The idea that regulations or systems are not absolute and can change whenever consensus shifts are well-demonstrated in the Calendar series, produced in 2016, 2018, and 2020. The Calendar drawn in 2016, which represents a year with 12 months arranged in rows and weeks in columns on a sheet of paper, demonstrates that we can classify and refer to time in various ways, even if they are not familiar methods we know. This idea was also continued in the Calendar(2020) that shows calendars from December 1582 in France, Belgium, and Germany, when the composition of dates was not identical depending on the different adoption dates of the Gregorian Calendar.
All of this ultimately leads to the issue of normality. Normal and abnormal are not natural but socially constructed. Especially, the establishment of modernization through exclusion and regulation has become common sense after Foucault. In the case of Agamben, for example, human civilization itself began by distinguishing between Homo Sacer (sacred man) and non-Homo Sacer, and this act is considered a primal political relationship.6) Rather than making the obvious and normative argument that the distinction between normal and abnormal is artificial and subjective, I subtly suggest that our own vision does not solely pursue clarity. Foveal vision is specialized in seeing details of an object up close, while peripheral vision is to see things broadly and construct spatial scenes.7) Comprehensive information such as facial expressions and emotions are grasped through peripheral vision. Therefore, if seeing blurry is inherently essential to our visual perception, then it becomes contradictory to define that only clarity is correct in terms of utility, not only in terms of beauty. Through Yoonjae Lee's work that embodies a serious reflection on seeing, we question the exclusion and assumptions inherent in visual art. Perhaps each individual's ‘only true voyage’ begins with the ‘discovery of questions.’
1) Margaret Livingstone, Vision and Art, Ho-kyeong Jeong (trans.) (Seoul: Doosungbooks, 2010), p. 35
2) Ibid., pp. 27-37
3) Yoonjae Lee, Artist Statement, 2021. (https://yoonjaelee.net/Only-True-Voyage-1)
4) There were twelve donors in total, and four were selected considering differences in corneas and cost. Since they all have visions from left and right eyes, there are a total of eight filters produced.
5) Interview with Yoonjae Lee (28th. Aug. 2023).
6) It refers to a person who has not been given a social life, and paradoxically means a human being who even cannot be offered as a sacrifice. Because they are not recognized as citizens, killing them does not constitute a murder charge. They exist outside the laws of both humans and gods.
Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer, Jin-woo Park(trans.) (Seoul: Saemulgyeol, 2008).
7) Livingstone, op. cit., pp. 72-78
Link : http://english.ocimuseum.org/portfolio-item/lee-yoonjae-viewers-conditions/