The concept of “De-veloping,” which first appeared in his first solo show “Facing the Wall” in 1978 and has continued to this day, runs through every aspect of Hong’s art. Inspired by the word “develop,” a etymological antonym of “envelop,” meaning cover and surround, the sculptor has used the words “en-veloping” and “De-veloping” as each other’s counter term, which reveals his art view of pursuing the beauty of nothingness, or a “？less” state. Containing such meaning, the “De-veloping” series was produced mainly during the early 1980s with various subtitles. The work “De-veloping; Silhouette Casting” (1984-2010), a piece from the series of the same title, was created by cutting an iron plate in the shape of a pair of scissors. Bordering on an image of representation and illusion, the installation can be seen as the shape of an independent form (existence) of scissors and at the same time as a vestige (non-existence) left from the act of cutting the plate. Either way, the work liberates the object from a fixed perception and simultaneously embodies the beauty of deconstruction intrinsic in the concept of “De-veloping.”

Hong Myung Seop (b. 1948) received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Department of Sculpture at Seoul National University in 1976 and 1986, respectively. He held multiple solo exhibitions at home and abroad including “de-titled” at Stedelijk Museum Zwolle, Holland, in 1998; “Horizontality” at Arko Art Center in 2004; and “Running Railroad” at Cultural Center of Novi Sad, Serbia, in 2012. He also participated in various group exhibitions in and out of Korea including the 44th Biennale di Venezia in 1990; “Border of Life,” special exhibition at Gwangju Biennale in 1997; and SeMA Gold 2012: Hidden Track at Seoul Museum of Art in 2012. He served on the faculty of the Painting Department at Hansung University. The art of Hong Myung Seop is permeated by the Buddhist worldview that has fascinated him since his school years. Hong has long pursued complete liberation from all fixed values in art, describing the encounters between the artist and the work, and the viewer and the work as “trigger,” or Nidana, meaning “linked cause.” His art is based on the concept of “metamorphosis”, as a reaction to art’s traditional qualities of “eternal, permanent materials and forms,” a notion also demonstrated by his frequent use of such prefixes with connotation of changeability as “meta-,” “para-,” and “ana-.” His works of transient and changeable forms, mainly made out of fragile materials like paper, tape, ropes and the likes, reflect a cycle of life in that they all wear out and perish as time passes. His works, which are to be disposed of after exhibition, demonstrate the sculptor’s horizontal and nature-friendly attitude, as opposed to a sort of phallic and vertical tendency often observable in monumental art.