80g, Doyoung Kim

The way we view photographs is always limited to the image itself. Through this work, I have tried to separate the photograph into the image and the physical medium on which it is printed, actively highlighting the materiality of that medium.

The way we view photographs is always limited to the image itself. Through this work, I have tried to separate the photograph into the image and the physical medium on which it is printed, actively highlighting the materiality of that medium.

When a three-dimensional object is documented through photography, the photograph conveys only fragmentary visual information about the subject. In this process, the medium of the image—paper—is concealed beneath the image itself. Through 80g, I aim to actively reveal the materiality of the paper hidden beneath the image, provoking a collision between visual information and materiality.

This work utilizes images of materials used in urban and architectural structures. The fundamental purpose of cities and architecture is to prevent collapse, and the materials chosen to achieve this—such as concrete, rebar, aluminium, and steel—possess properties that support weight and resist gravity. These materials function through their physical characteristics rather than through specific forms.

I print images of these materials onto 80g's paper, then install and photograph them to emphasize the materiality of the paper itself. In the work, the unprinted backside of the paper, its creases, and the way it sags under its own weight contrast with the solidity of the captured subject. Through this, I’m trying to position my work in the space between affirmation and negation, between lightness and heaviness, and between strength and weakness.