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© 2015 Jin-kang Park
Compass of Desire
2009
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Photo by Sunghun Kim

fabric collected from my family and friends, a list of my desires, written in gold color, 9'(diameter)

I am always curious if it is possible to be a good person and a good artist at the same time. Is it indeed possible to achieve love and success simultaneously? These are simple, maybe childish questions, but I could never find a satisfactory answer.

I quilted pieces of fabric collected from my family and friends, creating the base of a large compass.

The circle is divided in four quadrants: "Good Person", "Good Artist", "Good Life" and a direction with no word. A list of words of my desires, such as "good daughter", "good friend", "good studio", "good house" etc. are written in gold color on the pieces of fabric.

Viewers can rotate the needle of the compass to select and point one of the words. The needle was made to always go back to a certain direction where there are no words. No matter what I want, the invisible forces of the universe interrupt this pursuit of my desires and push me on unlabeled, undefined paths exploring unexpected areas.

University Art Gallery, Stony Brook, NY