Sweet Rain

Sweet Rain
Water mixed with saccharin (sweetener), Watering system installed on the eaves
Dimensions variable, 2010

Sweet Rain
Water mixed with saccharin (sweetener), Watering system installed on the eaves
Dimensions variable, 2010

Sweet Rain
Water mixed with saccharin (sweetener), Watering system installed on the eaves
Dimensions variable, 2010

Sweet Rain

Water mixed with saccharin (sweetener), Watering system installed on the eaves

Dimensions variable, 2010

Sweet Rain

Water mixed with saccharin (sweetener), Watering system installed on the eaves

Dimensions variable, 2010

Sweet Rain

Water mixed with saccharin (sweetener), Watering system installed on the eaves

Dimensions variable, 2010

전은 ‘단비’라는 관념적 대상을 실제화하는 프로젝트이다. 인사미술공간 지하 전시장에서 내리는 단비는 단맛을 내는 합성감미료인 사카린을 섞은 물로 만들어진 인공비로, 관객들은 1층에서 우비와 우산을 대여한 후 마음껏 단비를 맞고 또 맛볼 수 있게 된다. 단비는 맛이 달아서 단비가 아니라 ‘가뭄 끝에 단비가 왔다’는 말처럼 ‘꼭 필요한 시기에 알맞게 내리는 비’를 의미한다. 단비라는 말을 들으면 단비의 원 뜻을 연상하면서도 한번쯤은 ‘달다’라는 형용사의 미각적 감각을 떠올려 본 경험이 있을 것이다. ‘달다’라는 형용사는 다의적인 단어이고, ‘단비’에서처럼 ‘흡족하여 기분이 좋다’는 뜻과 함께 ‘맛이 달다’라는 뜻으로도 사용된다. 작가는 형용사 ‘달다’의 다층적 의미 중 ‘비’라는 단어와 한 쌍으로 사용되어 온 의미대신 또 다른 의미를 연결해 기표와 기의의 관계를 재구성하고 단비의 관념을 감각적으로 치환하고자 한다. 관객들은 전시내용을 듣기만 해도 단비를 재현하려는 다소 엉뚱한 시도에 미소를 머금게 되고, 누구나 한번쯤 상상해봤을 단비를 실제로 만나게 되는 행복감을 맛보게 될 것이다. 상상이 현실이 되는 그 순간이 눈앞에 펼쳐졌을 때 맛볼 수 있는 쾌감과도 같은 전시인 전은 메마른 시절에 내리는 단비만큼이나 유쾌한 청량제이자 마음의 치료제가 될 것이다.

Sweet Rain (2010) is a project that makes the abstract in danbi (‘sweet rain’) concrete. The sweet rain that falls in the basement exhibition hall of Insa Art Space is sweetened with the artificial sweetener saccharin. Viewers can borrow, from the first floor, a raincoat and an umbrella before they can get sweet-rained on and taste the sweetness to their heart’s content. In reality, sweet rain is not actually sweet; instead, it refers to the right amount of rain at right time, as illustrated by  the phrase “sweet rain after a drought.” However, upon hearing the word ‘sweet rain’, most of us probably have had the experience of recalling the taste of sweetness even as we think of its intended meaning. The adjective ‘sweet’, in fact, has multiple meanings; it can refer to the taste of sugar or to something that is satisfactory and therefore pleasing. Of the two meanings associated with the adjective, the artist Jungki Beak abandons the meaning that is usually paired with the  term ‘sweet rain’ and decides to go for the other meaning. In other words, he reorganizes the relationship between the signifier and signified and replaces the abstract with the sensory in ‘sweet rain’. Viewers are likely to at least chuckle at the somewhat goofy idea of interpreting ‘sweet rain’ literally. At the same time, they are likely to have imagined at least once in their lifetime a sweet taste when they heard the word ‘sweet rain’. These viewers will delight in experiencing in reality what had only been imagined. In fact, I am sure that Sweet Rain will serve as a tonic and a remedy for the mind that is as pleasant and therapeutic as the sweet rain is after a drought.