창녀시대 X CASPER KANG «

“창녀시대” (PROSTITUTES’ GENERATION) (3 PIECES)

116 X 90 CM, 90 X 116 CM, 116 X 90 CM

ACRYLIC & INTERFERENCE & SCREEN INK ON CANVAS

2009 CASPER KANG

“고민고민하지마”

몸 팔고 다니는 사람들/정신을 팔고 다니는 사람들/남의집 딸은 돈주고 자고 자신의 딸은 고귀한 아저씨들/양심을 버리고 돈을위해서 고생하는 사람들/나도/당신도/모두가 어느 정도는 창녀같다/소녀시대가아닌/지금은 창녀시대/오빠오빠/빨리빠리. . .

I’m not hating on certain Korean pop (gayo) figures. It’s not all their fault. . .after all, I guess most people would want fame and/or monetary success to varying degrees. So being a “musician” or “singer” while having no real ability to create any music oneself and always lipsyncing is pretty normal in the Korean “music” industry. But that’s accepted as the norm. . .they’re just performers. . .so one day I was waiting in the subway and was looking at one of those new LCD screens they have installed all over the place, and I saw the favorite of all favorites amongst most males in Korea, “Girls’ Generation” (소녀시대). Not only due to the fact that they were dressed scantily in short shorts, surgurized faces, and uniforms which seemed to convey a pseudo sailor look, but also since they (like 99.999% of mainstream Korean “singers”) lack any musical talent, I thought, “prostitutes.” I also thought they reminded me of North Korea, since there’s like 9 of them doing identical dances wearing matching uniforms. I’m pretty sure Kim Jong-Il would love them. Walking around my neighborhood which is heavily populated by pimps and prostitutes, every night the streets are flooded with these small cards featuring half-naked women, “seductive” phrases, and a phone number where you can arrange to sleep with a pretty young thing. So I based the composition and subject matter on these cards (maybe I’ll scan a few of the cards and upload them later), and used some lyrics from certain Korean pop songs, and used some patterns from money (korean bills) in the background. I guess what I was thinking about when doing this series was the fact that prostitutes, both the literal ones who sell their bodies, as well as the constitution of a prostitute as a purist pursuit of profit (Thanks Lupe), are the defining persona of modern advanced capitalist society. Who really loves their job? Probably just a few lucky people. We all have to work for money, and some people are willing to do more for money than others. Our society glorifies some professions and condemns others based on perhaps their contribution to society. . .but to some degree, we are all prostitutes. . .selling out our minds, bodies, ideals, morals, and souls for money. So I’m saying. . .yeah, “Girls’ Generation” is famous. . .but we’re living in a prostitutes’ generation full of pimps, hoes, and hustlers.