A Look at the World as Children See It 동심

What makes a middle aged man want to paint something from the eyes of a child? Linear stacking of a yellow dot sun gleaming on a serene day, wood houses on popsicle like tree, hunched back father, hand on hips mother, exuberant son, very thin puppy, and a wildly batty round faced cow.

How simple is this world?

It is known to me from my experiences with artists that they would want to push the boundaries especially if they are educated on the art techniques and history. They would want to break the rules. And in that prospect Jang Uk-jin along side his mates Kim Whanki and Yoo Youngkuk formed what I would called the Korean Modernism - Sinsasilpa. Modern Art being stripped out of its western norms and filled with Korean authentic aesthetic. Rejection of Academic Elitism.

I see a joint reason behind why he painted from a child's point of view, and why he chose such plain, 2D structures. The Korean War lasted three long years, and its after-effects lasted much longer — surviving it, and raising a family through it, must have reshaped how he saw both war and peace. Perhaps this is why he said, "Children draw without pretense. They paint what they love directly from the heart. That is the only true way to paint." A child's eye had not yet been taught to see the war; his flatness, his simplicity, is an attempt to paint from before that teaching happened.

The yearning for a life with family and pets on a bright day is valid. After having read the mentions of postwar experiences of innocent people from Human Acts by Hang Kang, it is easy to empathise with this artist. "Come over to the sunny side, into the light... why are you walking in the dark? Come into the sun, where it's warm." This line said by Dong-ho's mother, the parental instinct of wanting a bright day is clearly seen.

I see this painting as hope, as dream, as a yearning by a father for his children.
I also see a little selfishness of wanting a certain kind of life that he was averted by war circumstances. He has coaxed it over with parental love, but as such, as a human, he also would have wanted to wake up to a warm day, without having to hear the corpse count keep going up. The selfishness of not being killed, and existing there to see the bright sun and inverted mountain like trees, walk a dog with wife and son, or paint a round faced cow. Where does this leave us? This piece leaves me questioning and comparing the significance of morality, identity, power, capitalism, patriotism or any belief of that sorts that divides people, religion, over peaceful co-existing individuals.

If one has to answer the initial question, "How simple is this world?" I would say it is not simple at all. It is the grandeur of a dream lived by an entire nation, and now the world. They strived through it in 7 decades — how long will it take for other countries that are being bombed right now? Jang Uk-jin never set out to dream for anyone beyond his own son and daughter. But a father wanting his children to wake up to a warm day is not a Korean wish, or a 1955 wish. It is just a parent's wish. That's what makes it survive the painting, and outlive the war it came from. Who is dreaming for someone else's children right now?