Chapter two :
The hill of desire
chapter Series
2019
ABOUT WORK
The hill of desire points to the primitive sexual impulse and curiosity about sex in youth. People walk on a blurry line between sex and love, and the hill sits in a kind of void, like sexual impulses, which from time to time suddenly rise and disappear from our consciousness. The giant stones here specifically refer to the inexplicable sexual impulse in males, with the top resembling the male genitalia so prominently swollen. The irrational urge remains concealed in the void or within the depths of an unfathomable cavern.
Title : Chapter two – The hill of desire
Date : 2019
Size : 158 x 110 cm
Material : Watercolor on arches paper
Details and Background information of works
"Un Chien Andalou"
Luis Buñuel | Salvador Dalí
Donkey | Piano
"Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring"
Ki-duk kim
Door | Religious Discipline
A Donkey and Piano | Door and Religious Discipline
The donkey dying on the piano in high heels symbolizes the greed, stubbornness, and ignorance of a woman who is tortured by wishful thinking. The conflict between the door and the snake is a rational check and balance of the contradiction and fragility of sex in human nature. Humans possess animalistic traits, yet humans are not entirely animals. Civilization’s influence destined us to struggle repeatedly between divinity and animality.
Un Chien Andalou - Donkey and Piano
The imagery of a decaying donkey and a piano originates from “Un Chien Andalou” (English: “An Andalusian Dog”), a 16-minute silent surrealist short film from France. It was co-created by Spanish director Luis Buñuel and artist Salvador Dalí. Filmed in 1928, it marked Luis Buñuel’s directorial debut. In the first half of the 20th century, Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories gained popularity in Europe and America. The film follows this theory in its construction, presenting absurd and bizarre events and actions in its plot, characterized by disorder and hallucination. The emphasis lies on the sensory stimulation derived from dreamlike imagery rather than logical consistency in the plot.
Using animals such as ants, moths, and a donkey (noticeably, no actual dog), the film explores repressed desires, hidden violence, and sexuality. Interestingly, the two directors refrained from offering rational explanations for the film after its release, as they believed attempting to uncover the hidden symbolism in a surrealist work was futile.
In the short film, a man attempts to violate a woman, his expression gradually eroded by desire. At the peak of intense arousal, the man’s desires seem to reach a climax. However, in an instant, the woman starts to flee. Suddenly, the man drags forth a heavy object composed of a piano, a donkey, and what appears to be two clergy figures (perhaps symbolic of religious authorities). The woman cowers in a corner as the man, seemingly engaged in a tug-of-war with his own rationality, slowly approaches her. The man is both unable to control his desires and burdened by societal morality and various external factors