Jeamin Cha

Autodidact
Single channel video installation, 2014, HD video, 9minutes, color/sound

Youngchun Hur is the father of Private Wonkeun Hur who lost his life in 1984 (during the Fifth Republic of Korea). Suspecting the death of his son, Mr. Hur taught himself forensic medicine to reveal the truth. Autodidact was initiated by my meeting with Mr. Hur, at that time, a family member of the victim as well as an unofficial forensic investigator. The video shows magnified images of Mr. Hur’s investigative materials he studied and his handwritings, while two different narrators tell a story. (The script was made based on my conversation with Mr. Hur about his struggles, in which he went against the state’s cracking down on his attempt to unearth the truth over the last 30 years. The topics of conversation also include politics and key life events of the time, and the forensic evidence he found.) The two alternating narrators are Mr. Hur himself and a man in his early twenties. The work attempts to reflect the “voice” of the others through reading the material only with eyes, reading aloud, and re-reading by a different person’s voice.

A Film by
Jeamin Cha

Cast
Narrators Youngchun Hur, Joonho Kwon

Director of Photography Seongtaek Lee
Sound Recording and Design Morceau. J. Woo

Seaweed seed microphotograph
National Fisheries Research Institute_ Seaweed Bio Research Department

With Special Thanks to
National People and Democracy Bereaved Family Meeting _ Hanul Life, Dr. Hyunil Yoo

Supported by DOOSAN Gallery