Real doll documentary so naked… Request for “Revocation of Writer Award Nomination”

Senji Nakajima (63), who is famous as a “love doll uncle” in Japan. In his narrow house, there are five dolls the size of a person. Although he is the head of the household with a wife and two children, he lives apart from his family, taking a bath with Real Doll, watching TV, and sleeping together. “It’s nice that dolls don’t betray me,” he says, who said he bought a doll for the purpose of satisfying his sexual desire at first.

It is a part of the documentary film’Tomorrow’ of the visual artist and film director Jung Yoon-seok, nominated for the ‘2020 Artist of the Year’ at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. This work, currently on display at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, is currently engulfed in a controversy about’female hatred’ because it is based on real dolls (sex dolls). The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s’Artist of the Year’ is a project that selects and introduces the most attention-grabbing artists each year. The exhibition, which opened on December 4 last year, was suspended for more than a month due to the closure of the museum due to corona 19 quarantine measures, and has been meeting visitors again since the 19th.

Four nominees for the ‘2020 Artist of the Year Award’ were Kim Min-ae (39), Lee Seul-gi (48), Jung Yoon-seok (39), and Jung Hee-seung (46). Jung showed a work consisting of a film, a photo and video installation. Among them,’Tomorrow’ unfolds the story of Senji, a figure who lives with a doll in Japan, and Matsuda, a figure who presents an artificial intelligence robot as a political alternative, nakedly shows the scenery of the labor scene of a sex doll factory in China.

The problem is that this work puts on the fore a real doll that turned a woman’s body into a sexual instrument. As the material is the material, the process of making the product at the factory itself is full of scenes that make you look frowned upon. For example, a scene where a woman’s body parts such as buttocks, genitals, neck, legs, and face are roughly handled by factory workers is exposed naked. Even more shocking are the photographic works captured by stopping some scenes. Although it is premised that it is part of the production process, each image is made up of scenes as if the human body was amputated and violence was applied. Is this an art that undermines the dignity of women, or is the author’s warning to face the reality that we are struggling to ignore.

Some of the exhibitors posted on social media and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s YouTube channel, claiming that “the author made sex dolls the subject of his work, and that the public institution nominated for the’Artist of the Year’ is a huge misogyny.” In addition, he argued that “in Korea, where dating violence is a social problem, it is misogynistic to talk about a man’s’wounds’ over a female body,” he said. As the contents of the work became known, the hashtag “#Artist of the Year_Jung Yoon-seok_Candidates Deprived” spread online.

However, the artist said, “I wanted to ask a question about what humanity is through the life styles individuals choose in a changing era. Specifically, I wanted to talk about human contradictions.” In response to the written question sent by this magazine, the author said, “Depending on the point of view, there will be people who are uncomfortable watching the subject of this film.” But through that discomfort, we will see the reality that we are trying to ignore. Replied. He added, “It is clear that the problem consciousness shown in this new work is the future that will come soon and the questions to be solved,” he said. “The title of’Tomorrow’ also contains an ambiguous meaning from that perspective.” The artist also explained, “In the first half of the film, we criticized the capitalist society that commodifies humans, and in the second half, we tried to objectively view the contradictions and distrust of humans.”

In response to this, the art world is in a position that “depending on the perspective, the artist may be unpleasant about the way the artist uses real stone as a subject and reproduces it artistically, but it is excessive to assert that the work is to be withdrawn after deciding it as’excitement.’

One professional curator said in a conversation with the magazine that “in the realm of reproduction, it’s art to be able to deal with things that many people find offensive or disrespectful of.” In addition, art critic Choi Yeol said, “Unless a work directly or straightforwardly exceeds ethical standards, it is not an appropriate and proper attitude to tailor it with a specific perspective.” He continued, “The assertion that only my thoughts are absolutely right about art and society can be violent. Wouldn’t it be more desirable to have more people debate together and make artistic reflections this time?” “I asked.

Jung has been working on documentary video that highlights the relationship between personal life and social events. In 2014, he released a documentary “Nonfiction Diary” about the arrest of the Zon faction and the collapse of Seongsu Bridge and Sampoong Department Store, and also published a documentary “Bamseom Pirates, Seoul Fire,” based on the National Security Act in 2016. The exhibition is until April 4 next year.

Eunjoo Lee, Senior Reporter of Culture [email protected]