Thursday, March 13 – Sunday, March 30
THE RAIN
Lee HeeWon
Salle Gilbert-Gaillard, 2 rue Saint-Pierre, Clermont-Ferrand
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday, 1pm to 7pm
Sunday from 2pm to 6pm
Free access
This post is also available in: Français (French)
The work:
The Rain deals with the delicate subject of wartime comfort women. We are guided through the landscape by the voice-over of a young girl, the main character recounting her intimate stories, poetic and cruel memories. The text is based on the testimonies of victims of sexual slavery. This project does not put Japan on trial, but focuses on human pain metaphorically translated through the figure of the ghost, and pays homage to these women.
Credits :
Concept and direction: HeeWon Lee
Music: Alexandre Del Torchio
Drone pilot, cinematographer: Yoon JongHyeon
Assistants: Bae HunSeok, Hee-ok Lee
Post-production: Gaston Marcotti, Thomas Monamy (Atelier BIZAROID)
Text assistance, translation: Marie Lambertdja
Binaural and mixing: Simon Apostolou
© 2017 HeeWon Lee – Tous droits réservés
TEXT AND VOICE-OVER
목격자 들 47 회’ 슬픈 귀향 1 부 와 2 부, 북녘 할머니 의 증언 ‘뉴스 타파’
‘아직도 아물지 않은 상처들 (2003)’, 안해룡 감독, 일본군 위안부 피해자 E-역사관
‘L’impossible’, Georges Bataille
This project was realized with the support of Dicréam (cnc) – Aide au développement &
production support, Fonds de soutien à la création artistique numérique – Fonds[SCAN],
한국예술 문화위원회 ARKO – 국제 예술 교류지원
Partnership: Elektra
Supporters: Epidemic, Khiasma, Morten Salling
Executive producer:: Julien Taïb – Crossed lab
The artist:
HeeWon Lee is a multimedia artist from South Korea. After studying fashion in Seoul, she moved to France at the end of 2002. She entered the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Art de Nancy, specializing in Visual Art Communication, before completing a post-graduate course at Le Fresnoy – Studio National des Arts Contemporains, in Tourcoing.
Her artistic practice brings together video, graphics, sound and installation. Her work plunges us into a dreamlike, poetic, contemplative and bewitching universe.
Her projects have won awards and been presented on numerous occasions in France and abroad (Brazil, Canada, South Korea, Morocco, Spain, Italy, Russia, etc.).
ARTIST'S PORTRAIT:
MORE INFORMATIONS...
Interview by Fanny Bauguil (VIDEOFORMES relay teacher) and Manon Derobert (VIDEOFORMES communications manager)
- How would you describe this installation? What do we see? What do we hear? What do we do?
The Rain is a virtual reality project I made in 2017.
The film pays tribute to the victims of sexual exploitation instituted by the Japanese government during the Second World War.
We see natural landscapes in South Korea, while the recorded voices of the victims blend into the landscape like echoes of souls, resonating like a silent but powerful testimony.
To this day, these victims have not been recognized by Japan.
- What is it all about?
See above.
- Is this the first time this installation has been presented to the public?
No, this project was realized and presented in 2017.
I looked for the most appropriate technique to convey my concept, and virtual reality seemed the most suitable medium to immerse the viewer in this immersive experience.
- Which artists (in all fields) or, more generally, which art forms have inspired your creative process, and what references, if any, do you allude to in this installation?
My influences come more from cinema and architecture etc.
This project doesn’t refer directly to a specific work, but is part of a broader reflection on memory and transmission.
- What are the difficulties, constraints, challenges… encountered during its development?
As with any artistic project, there were constraints and challenges, particularly technical and conceptual. Striking the right balance between aesthetics and message was a major challenge.
- Can you give us one or more web addresses where we can see your work?
For the time being, I’m in the process of preparing this information and can’t give it out yet.
- A few keywords that would fit in well with your installation?
Memory, testimony, comfort women, invisibility, resonance.
- A few words about your artistic career?
A path strewn with pitfalls, where each problem leads to a rethinking of processes and influences a way of thinking and a mode of production.
- When did you first become interested in digital art?
I finished my studies in 2010. I started with drawing, then photography, before naturally turning to digital media like video.
Making a living from my work is a great challenge.