Immediate Response
I was surprised and confused by the combination of functional dishware ceramics pieces and parts of the human torso placed on the plate. The patterns on the human bodies seem to be tattooed. It stood out to me that there is a color theme for each piece in this series of artwork. Although there are other minor colors, each of the pieces above has a focal color choice of red or black. Though beautiful, they bring me some uneasy feelings.
Objective Description
There are functional dishware ceramics placed on a white background. Some of the dishwares have decorations that one can find on traditional south/east Asian dishware ceramics. There are parts of human bodies such as the torso, forearm, and leg scattered on the plates, and across the background as well. One comes in black ink and the other comes in red.
Technical Decisions
The choice of color, red and black, gives off a dark, despairing, and tragic theme for the artwork. It does not help that there are parts of the human body all over the plates and the background. To me, it seems that the audience is being invited to dinner and this is what is served. They can choose to dig in and critique the human parts. Some of the poses are more exposed and opened up, while some are turned away or curled up, which sets different reactions and body language for each of the body parts in the setting of being placed there, out open.
The Work in the World
The artwork reminds me of the process of making pottery itself. Upon learning that the artwork was created using a 3D design platform, I saw how technology can help modern artists convey their ideas to the audience through a different approach. Instead of having to learn all the ceramics techniques to produce this artwork (which might include throwing, hand-building, slip casting, decoration, glazing, firing, etc.) he can just jump right into the design piece and focus on conveying his ideas.
The Story it Tells
Given that Kim Joon is a Korean artist and his artwork has a lot to do with tattoos, I think his artworks are to voice how the strict society looks at tattoos as taboo, a social phenomenon. Even if they are our bodies, our choices, there is still insecurity both from internal and external forces. Since the artwork here is set up as an open invitation to a dinner table, in a way the body parts can be objectified as food that deems to be stared at, criticize, and judged.