engl 328 - final project

8/10/2019 ENGL 328 - Final Project

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ENGL 328: Metaphor, Language, and Thought Dr. Barbara Dancygier): Final Project

Greetings! For my final project, I have decided to focus on the artwork of Daehyun Kim()

Brief Project Outline:

I will first provide a biography on the artist and relevant information pertaining to his artwork

I will then present each piece (there are threein total), describe it, and introduce any themes

o I will then discuss underlying theoretical concepts and inputs at work that form the

megablend (PLEASE ZOOM IN ON THIS DOCUMENT AT 200%+TO VIEW THE IMAGES CLEARLY!)

Daehyun Kim()

Born in Seoul in 1980, Daehyun is a South Korean artist based in Seoul who goes by Moonassiand hasdedicated himself to his Moonassi series since university; he describes the series as his life-time project:

The series is my lifetime project. There is no specific background story or a theory about the drawing. Each

drawing is created based on my daily thoughts and feelings. I draw to meditate on myself and others, and to be

able to see the whole story of the series in the end When people call me Moonassi, its like if they are calling

someone who has no identity.

Daehyun studied oriental painting and draws from Buddhist paintings in which faces lack expression:

I thought that the face is perfect to conceal their feelings because I dont want to show directly if these characters

are good or bad through their faces. The simple black suit which looks like underwear has been chosen in order to

make you only focus on their gestures. I purposely dont show the time, place or gender.

Sample Art


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Image 1/3:

Teardrop Competit ion (2010, ) Or Grief Competit ion

Description:Two figures sit across from each other as a

balancing scale rests between them. The

figure on the left expressionlessly cries

teardrop-shaped shards into the left pan o

a balancing scale, as the figure on the righexpressionlessly gazes on at the spectacle

Presently, more shards are in the right pan

so the scales hand points to the right.

The original title of the artwork is inKorean, as that is the artists mothetongue. When roughly translated

reads as grie

competition, rather than the teardropcompetition that literally takes place.

NOT E: Although Daehyuns mother tongue is Korean, he is fluent in English.

The image can thus be expressed by two inputs: (1) Balancing scaleand (2) Grief.What emerges is a novel blend about relative grief and consequently, empathy.In the first input, the balancing scale, we bear the following knowledge:

A scale does not measure the absolute weight, but the relative weight between two pans

When one side outweighs the other, the pan is brought closer to the ground, and a needle

points in the heavier sides direction

The most salient mapping related to a scale is:

o SIGNIFICANCE IS WEIGHT(the more weight, the more significant the material)

In the second output, grief, we bear the following knowledge:

Everyone experiences grief differently

One expression that comes out of feeling grief is shedding tears

Crying emits tears that are often (and appropriately) tear-shaped; tears are uniform in shape

The most salient mapping related to scales and grief is:

(HAPPY IS UP) SAD IS DOWN(you lookdown, if your scales pan is down then you are sad)

The emergent structure thus describes a competition between two figures, in which producingmore teardrop-shaped shards (metonymically representing grief) than the other is desirable. Theartwork conjures a natural question, Why would you want to win the competition of feeling more

poorly than another? To answer that question, we need to consider relative grief or ratherempathy. When someone experiences sadness and tells their friend about it, sometimes that friendwill lack empathy and remind the sad person that there are others feeling and doing worsedelegitimizing the pain that person may be experiencing.

Similarly, if one is to win the competition by crying more tears, i.e., feeling more pain than theother, what kind of worth do the losers tears bear; is their existing sadness legitimate, or issadness relative and therefore only relevant to those who bear sadness the most? According to the

metaphor SIGNIFICANCE IS WEIGHT, the grief belonging to the winner of the competitionwould hold more significance than the sadness of the loser. This image thus presents a critique ofone framework/approach to how we view and effectively value and rate sadness.


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Image 2/3:

Path (2009, ) Or Length of Time(when translated through Google Translate)

Description:A single thread joins two figures who are

seated far apart from one another. The

figure on the left observes as the figure on

the right cuts the thread joining themtogether with scissors. It is unknown if the

figure on the right is aware that the figure

on the left is watching this taking place.

The original title of the artwork is inKorean, as that is the artists mothetongue. When roughly translated

reads as Period or Length o

Time, rather than the given name, APath.

The image can thus be expressed by two inputs: (1)Threadand (2) Relationship.What emerges is a novel blend about the intricacies of a relationship.In the first input, the thread, we bear the following knowledge:

A thread can only be taut and straight if held onto by both sides

A thread can be broken if pressure is applied (ex. pulled apart, cut apart)In the second input, the relationship, we bear the following knowledge:

A relationship emerges from a connection between two people

A relationship is time-sensitive; it can exist in the past but not in the future (and vice versa)

A relationship is formally ended or broken when one or more parties decides it does

The most salient mapping related to a relationship is:

o INTIMACY IS CLOSENESS

! Thus, a lack of intimacy is indicated by a lack of closeness

The most salient mapping related to thread and relationship is:

RELATIONSHIPS ARE PHYSICAL TIES OR LINKS(i.e. thread)

Thus, the emergent structure describes how the physical tie between the two figures that istheir relationship, can be ended by cutting ties. Moreover, this blend points out that the

relationship does not require both actors to end the relationship; rather, this can be initiated andcarried out by one person if necessary.

The title of the piece is A Path this evokes the idea that the thread not only represents therelationship between these two people (RELATIONSHIPSAREPHYSICALTIESOR LINKS)but also stands in for the path upon which these two people are travelling on together. This

particular notion evokes the mapping MEANS ARE PATHS as well any potential mappings that makeup location ESMs, particularly from the Journey frame.

Finally, the alternative title Length of Time appropriately ties together both inputs, Threadand Relationship: a relationship is made up of a length of time that is measured by when therelationship begins and ends (length of thread ends when it is cut).


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Image 3/3:

Random ccess Memories (2013, )

Description:Two figures don welding helmets and perform

soldering work on a bust, which is made up

small, flat pieces. These circular pieces hang

on lines and can be easily accessed. Thebust and the soldering iron are wired to a

computer.

This image is polysemous in that itsmultiplicity in meaning expects the readeto bear knowledge about computehardware, as the title of the piece is a

slight adjustment from the term randomaccess memory, better known as RAMRAM is a temporary form of data storage

and the memory is designed to beaccessed repetitively and in any order.

RAM thus allows information to be readand written, regardless of the order it isaccessed.

The image can thus be expressed by two inputs: (1) Computer memory, (2) Human memory.What emerges is a novel blend about memory.In the first input, computer memory, we bear the following knowledge:

The computer is a information-carrying device; the information is read & transmitted in binary In the computer, this data/information can be saved as memory, temporarily so as RAM

As RAM, this memory can thus be accessed in any order and many times overIn the second input, human memory, we bear the following knowledge:

Memory is not tangible, but a concept that refers to the process of remembering

Despite the conceptual nature of memory, it is often described as something one has

o I wish I had memory as good as yours, That was sad, dont hold onto that memory

The most salient mappings related to memory are:

o THE MIND IS A CONTAINER, ando IDEAS(or potentially, memories) ARE OBJECTSthat can be put into this container

* NOTE: The primary metaphor UNDERSTANDING IS GRASPING (ex. dont hold onto thamemory) is also relevant, but comparatively less so beside these two other metaphors.

Internally, the human brain is partially made up of memories which are conceptual. We understandthis through the notion that the MIND IS A CONTAINER and the IDEAS (memories) ARE OBJECTSwe can put into this container, the mind.The most salient mappings related to both humansand computersare:

PEOPLE ARE COMPUTERSand COMPUTERS ARE PEOPLE, and

HUMAN COGNITIVE PROCESSING IS COMPUTER INFORMATION PROCESSING

Whats interesting about the prevalence of these metaphors, beside the image of interest, isthat within at least the English language, we do not try to understand human emotional response in


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terms of computer structure. And yet, these object event structure metaphors emerge because bothcomputers and people bear abstract structures that may not be physically experienced, but can be

inferred from behaviour. Consequently, in the image, we understand that the head (brain) is madeup of these small circles that metaphorically represent memories. These memories, like RAM, can beaccessed by the worker on the right, and soldered (or kept and retained as memories) onto thehead (i.e. brain) by the worker on the right.

LinksMoonassi series: http://www.moonassi.comMoonassi Daehyun Kim)biography: http://www.moonassi.com/about

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