Burning Works
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Description
Book Introduction
“I set a trap for every coincidence that might happen.” A strange setting that makes you reproach yourself for your lack of imagination. An amazing story that you can't tell where it will lead A new feature-length novel by Korea's first Dagger Award-winning author, Yoon Go-eun Exported to English-speaking countries before domestic release, confirmed for publication by Scribe! Yoon Go-eun has always boldly and humorously written novels about reality and the absurdity that exists within today's reality, using her unpredictable imagination. To readers who were puzzled by her writing's sensual satire of reality or her method of reinterpreting reality through novels, she introduced her literature in a cheerful or intimate way, and, using the language of novels as a weapon, she built her own world of understanding the uncomfortable realities of life and the colorful and diversified daily life. The full-length novel 『Burning Work』, recently published by Eunhaengnamu Publishing, can be said to be a turning point in the filmography of author Yoon Go-eun, a work that she had to write while focusing on her own sense of duty. After a year of revisions and final drafting following its serialization in the literary magazine 『Axt』, 『Burning Works』 was published. It asks about the true meaning of works of art in this era, including a tragicomic reflection on the 'relationship' between art and works for artists, a blackly comedic story development, and an accusation of the paradox of capitalism that elevates the value of works and the status of artists through the destructive performance of burning works. Yoon Go-eun, who has built her own world of works with short story collections 『A Table for One』 『Aloha』 『Old Car and Hitchhiker』 『If Pyongyang is in the Blue House』 and novels 『Zero Gravity Syndrome』 『Night Travelers』 『Riding the Pirate Version』 『Library Runway』, has released a new full-length novel, 『Burning Work』. We encountered the creative process of works of art that exist but do not exist, and the moments when they must be burned to become the best works, through Yoon Go-eun's characteristically deep and delicate insight. |
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index
Burning Works * 7
Author's Note * 343
Commentary on the Work / But There Is an Oasis_Jeong Yeo-ul (Literary Critic) * 347
Author's Note * 343
Commentary on the Work / But There Is an Oasis_Jeong Yeo-ul (Literary Critic) * 347
Detailed image
Into the book
-On the last day of the exhibition, one of the works will be burned.
The Roberts Foundation selects the works to be incinerated.
Incineration? I wondered if perhaps "purchase" was mistranslated as "incineration," or if it was a typographical error, but it actually referred to the act of burning the artwork itself.
It was not an expression of metaphor or symbol.
He said it was really burning.
--- p.50
“Are you okay? Should I step aside?” I said to no one, and Robert stopped walking and looked up at me for a moment.
That's right.
I looked up.
The composition made me feel strange.
I've never been in a situation like this before.
Whether I met Robert inside or outside the building, he was always at my eye level.
But now I was looking down at Robert, and because of that perspective, all the accumulated discomfort and such seemed ridiculous.
The fatigue has just evaporated away.
What is this little dog doing?
--- p.233
Depending on how we trim our lives, our lives take on a completely different look.
It was the same for Bill.
He had never doubted the incineration method, but the ghostly work made him feel the world outside the frame, up and down, left and right.
Bill's words were ultimately directed in one direction.
Where do the works Robert incinerates go? Isn't there another story after the incineration ceremony?
The Roberts Foundation selects the works to be incinerated.
Incineration? I wondered if perhaps "purchase" was mistranslated as "incineration," or if it was a typographical error, but it actually referred to the act of burning the artwork itself.
It was not an expression of metaphor or symbol.
He said it was really burning.
--- p.50
“Are you okay? Should I step aside?” I said to no one, and Robert stopped walking and looked up at me for a moment.
That's right.
I looked up.
The composition made me feel strange.
I've never been in a situation like this before.
Whether I met Robert inside or outside the building, he was always at my eye level.
But now I was looking down at Robert, and because of that perspective, all the accumulated discomfort and such seemed ridiculous.
The fatigue has just evaporated away.
What is this little dog doing?
--- p.233
Depending on how we trim our lives, our lives take on a completely different look.
It was the same for Bill.
He had never doubted the incineration method, but the ghostly work made him feel the world outside the frame, up and down, left and right.
Bill's words were ultimately directed in one direction.
Where do the works Robert incinerates go? Isn't there another story after the incineration ceremony?
--- p.295
Publisher's Review
Now everything will be explained by Robert, the dog.
The novel begins with a photograph.
There was a young man and woman at the Grand Canyon, and everyone could tell that the woman was wearing a wedding dress and the man had one knee half-bent.
I was proposing.
People who saw the photo usually had the same feelings.
It's touching.
stylish.
beautiful.
But the photo didn't go viral because it was beautiful and cool.
It became even more famous because the young man and woman in the photo were missing.
Now the photos were no longer bright or warm images.
Images of evidence from a mysterious missing person's case were superimposed.
But that alone wasn't enough to make the news every night.
There was one more layer.
The copyright holder of that photo.
The person who took the photo was none other than the dog 'Robert'.
Robert took that very picture.
The beautiful beginning of a young couple and the end of their lives were captured in photographs.
People got a double feeling from the photo, a different image derived from the work of art.
There was a story going around that Robert had guessed right up to that point and taken a picture.
The father of the young woman in the photo, Chairman Baltman, a wealthy businessman, sets out to find the photographer Robert, who left behind the last photo of his now-dead, missing daughter.
Chairman Baltman creates an art foundation solely for Robert.
For that work of art where movement and stillness are trapped in one frame.
For that system that must be destroyed to become a single great work.
First, become famous, even if it means burning your work.
I (An Iji) live the life of a food delivery rider for a while.
I pause for a moment from my life of ‘making art’.
In times of pandemic, writers like me have to survive.
The sponsors' support has been cut off.
Support has also been reduced.
Has her life of "making art" vanished for a moment? For her, who lived feeling like she was being kicked out of her place because of rent, her current wish was to have a "dog with a yard."
One day, the Roberts Foundation, famous for making groundbreaking proposals to artists, highly evaluated Anji's work and decided to fully support her artistic activities.
What was even more surprising was that the sponsor who chose An Ji-ji's work and recognized its value was a 'dog' named Robert.
It was like my wish was half-fulfilled.
But no matter how attractive the sponsorship of the Robert Foundation is, it is still awkward and embarrassing that Robert is a 'dog'.
Still, I couldn't turn down the offer and boarded the plane to America.
An Ee-ji is grateful to the Robert Foundation for saving her from a situation where she almost gave up on art, but at the same time, she has mixed feelings about whether the person in charge of the foundation is really the dog Robert, and whether the support is really worth it.
The Robert Foundation has finally arrived.
Life there is quite regular and procedural.
Robert should have dinner when he wants, talk when he wants, and take a walk when he wants.
Does he truly have an eye for art, not just metaphors and symbols? The secret to the Robert Foundation's continued success lies in Robert's ability to select promising artists and outstanding works.
However, when I actually see Robert, the 'dog' in front of me, I am skeptical about whether he has any self-awareness and whether the interpreter is even translating Robert's words.
Still, I decide to separate 'Robert' and the sponsoring 'Foundation'.
I came to believe only in the foundation's ability to support.
And, one suggestion that must absolutely be kept.
The condition is that one of the works must be chosen and burned.
The only original that will be burned and disappear
What is the relationship between an artist and his work? The central premise of the novel—"the work must be burned"—provokes reflection on the relationship between creator and work.
The spectacular performance of burning the work places the rarity of the work in the highest position.
The moment a work of art chosen as a masterpiece is burned and disappears, it ceases to exist in the world, and it functions as an conceptual meaning of something that once existed but no longer exists.
Transforming the body from a visible material to an invisible concept.
It is the moment when the superficial image of art transforms into an ideal image.
By burning a work of art, its material value increases, and since the work no longer exists in the world, the artist's value also increases.
But this act destroys the artist's dignity.
It is a performance solely for the sake of the work, without considering the feelings of the creator watching his work being burned.
The creator's choice: burn my work.
A damaged self-esteem from having discarded one's own work.
Also, the work is entirely attributed to the capitalist sponsor.
Thus, through this act of burning, the creator exchanges his dignity and independence for the value of his work.
This novel shows the conflict between the writer's heart, which must paint a work that must be burned, and the writer's artistic dignity, which cannot be burned.
The novel begins with a photograph.
There was a young man and woman at the Grand Canyon, and everyone could tell that the woman was wearing a wedding dress and the man had one knee half-bent.
I was proposing.
People who saw the photo usually had the same feelings.
It's touching.
stylish.
beautiful.
But the photo didn't go viral because it was beautiful and cool.
It became even more famous because the young man and woman in the photo were missing.
Now the photos were no longer bright or warm images.
Images of evidence from a mysterious missing person's case were superimposed.
But that alone wasn't enough to make the news every night.
There was one more layer.
The copyright holder of that photo.
The person who took the photo was none other than the dog 'Robert'.
Robert took that very picture.
The beautiful beginning of a young couple and the end of their lives were captured in photographs.
People got a double feeling from the photo, a different image derived from the work of art.
There was a story going around that Robert had guessed right up to that point and taken a picture.
The father of the young woman in the photo, Chairman Baltman, a wealthy businessman, sets out to find the photographer Robert, who left behind the last photo of his now-dead, missing daughter.
Chairman Baltman creates an art foundation solely for Robert.
For that work of art where movement and stillness are trapped in one frame.
For that system that must be destroyed to become a single great work.
First, become famous, even if it means burning your work.
I (An Iji) live the life of a food delivery rider for a while.
I pause for a moment from my life of ‘making art’.
In times of pandemic, writers like me have to survive.
The sponsors' support has been cut off.
Support has also been reduced.
Has her life of "making art" vanished for a moment? For her, who lived feeling like she was being kicked out of her place because of rent, her current wish was to have a "dog with a yard."
One day, the Roberts Foundation, famous for making groundbreaking proposals to artists, highly evaluated Anji's work and decided to fully support her artistic activities.
What was even more surprising was that the sponsor who chose An Ji-ji's work and recognized its value was a 'dog' named Robert.
It was like my wish was half-fulfilled.
But no matter how attractive the sponsorship of the Robert Foundation is, it is still awkward and embarrassing that Robert is a 'dog'.
Still, I couldn't turn down the offer and boarded the plane to America.
An Ee-ji is grateful to the Robert Foundation for saving her from a situation where she almost gave up on art, but at the same time, she has mixed feelings about whether the person in charge of the foundation is really the dog Robert, and whether the support is really worth it.
The Robert Foundation has finally arrived.
Life there is quite regular and procedural.
Robert should have dinner when he wants, talk when he wants, and take a walk when he wants.
Does he truly have an eye for art, not just metaphors and symbols? The secret to the Robert Foundation's continued success lies in Robert's ability to select promising artists and outstanding works.
However, when I actually see Robert, the 'dog' in front of me, I am skeptical about whether he has any self-awareness and whether the interpreter is even translating Robert's words.
Still, I decide to separate 'Robert' and the sponsoring 'Foundation'.
I came to believe only in the foundation's ability to support.
And, one suggestion that must absolutely be kept.
The condition is that one of the works must be chosen and burned.
The only original that will be burned and disappear
What is the relationship between an artist and his work? The central premise of the novel—"the work must be burned"—provokes reflection on the relationship between creator and work.
The spectacular performance of burning the work places the rarity of the work in the highest position.
The moment a work of art chosen as a masterpiece is burned and disappears, it ceases to exist in the world, and it functions as an conceptual meaning of something that once existed but no longer exists.
Transforming the body from a visible material to an invisible concept.
It is the moment when the superficial image of art transforms into an ideal image.
By burning a work of art, its material value increases, and since the work no longer exists in the world, the artist's value also increases.
But this act destroys the artist's dignity.
It is a performance solely for the sake of the work, without considering the feelings of the creator watching his work being burned.
The creator's choice: burn my work.
A damaged self-esteem from having discarded one's own work.
Also, the work is entirely attributed to the capitalist sponsor.
Thus, through this act of burning, the creator exchanges his dignity and independence for the value of his work.
This novel shows the conflict between the writer's heart, which must paint a work that must be burned, and the writer's artistic dignity, which cannot be burned.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: October 12, 2023
- Page count, weight, size: 340 pages | 458g | 135*205*30mm
- ISBN13: 9791167373618
- ISBN10: 1167373618
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카테고리
korean
korean
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