Uncanny Candy / 2018
Type: Object Making, Material research, Self driven workshop
Output: Photography, Mask, Wearable objects
Role:
Planning
Concept
Object making
Photography
Editing
Model - Yein Amy Kim
Creative writing about Candy
Candy; It refers to snacks such as candy and chocolate.
Sweet things.
But candies are bad for your body.
It's not dangerous right now, but it's addictive.
If you become addicted slowly, you will not be able to escape.
But it is far too easy to approach and exposed to all ages.
When you see these in a tempting colorful packaging, it reminds me of a child who wants to be loved, being all pretty and cute, yet hiding the wicked side. If you bite, suck, chew, or swallow an unidentifiable lump being drunk with the innocuous sweetness, the slightly unpleasant aftertastes remains in your mouth.
I take another lump again to clean it down.
Bite, suck, chew, swallow.
Bite, suck, chew, swallow.
Bite, suck, chew, swallow.
Bite, suck, chew, swallow.
Bite, suck, chew, swallow.
Bite, suck, chew, swallow.
In no time, I see an empty bag. Have I eaten it all?
I doubt myself and I hate it. When did I eat all those sweets?
Have you ever seen Haribo-bear jelly closely?
They promote it as a bear, but it is hard to tell that it’s a bear.
The face to express the cuteness of the bear is distorted and vague. Distorted lumps are packed in colorful bags that forcefully telling people it’s teddy bear. Other animal-shaped jellies are equally ugly. In mass-production factories can not portrait the details, reproduce distorted and obscured faces.
But again, I eat them.
Bite, suck, chew, swallow.
What is this?
Wearable object made with edible materials. Revealing my desire, become the desire itself. Tried to fully follow my imaginations, and see where it leads me. Free dive!
Why did I create this?
Candy. It reminds me of children, sweet, happiness,
rewards, and so on. However, the desire for a strong
sweetness leads to addiction, and it hides behind
the pretty wrapping. It fools people. Or are we just
let them fool us? It’s so addictive but has any legal
restrictions. It’s not even close to bear shape but
we call it gummy-bear. I recognize these truths, but
I keep eating sweets for pleasure. I feel uncanny
about this point, so I chose candy as the material.How does it work?
I trusted my intuition from the beginning to the end in the working process. Just as ‘uncanny’ is the uncomfortable feeling cannot be explained with specific reasons, I followed my baseless yet strong instinct and transformed myself into ‘uncanny candy’. Awakening my intuition and using imagination to the actual output was a new challenge for me. To make things look uncanny and to transforming myself into a candy was the main goal to reach.The output reminds me of Alice in Wonderland or Halloween.
Cheap objects with antique background and food looking like body parts. In this irony, I could see the main keyword, the desire. Desire is a craving for something beyond necessity. We feel embarrassed when socialized human beings show the desire too obviously. I did not just reveal my inner desires to the surface, but I became the desire itself. This naturally harmonized with the luxurious background. The cheapness and antiquity which sounds contrary to each other somehow found the middle ground in the name of desire.