Brutal Fusion: our exclusive interview with provocative new art collective Starch Haus
Written by Valentina Buzzi (@cenestpasvale)
Photography by Michael Davis (@imnotmarvingofoto) and Jong A Kim.
““It’s not easy to meet someone who has the motivation to create and wants to use their time and energy on something that can be openly creative: we call that art, I guess.””
"L'art pour l'art" - "art for art's sake" - is a phrase coined in the 19th century as part of a counter-discourse to the increasing materialism of art. The idea is to defend the right of art to have inherent value without any need for commercial justification. Fast-forward to today, and there is still an ongoing question surrounding the role of art and an artist’s freedom in a hyper-capitalistic environment.
South Korea's Starch Haus is a new art collective challenging our preconceptions about art production. They aim to enter the heart of this discourse through powerful collaborations between a diverse range of creatives.
Born out of a chat among friends all working in the corporate sector, Starch Haus was a response to a need for creativity without restrictions. "We were talking over a beer about the art industry and what it means to live as an artist," says Min Kim, the founder of Starch Haus. "We tried to start something that could be stress-free and unrestrained. It was important to express our attitudes towards art, but also to have fun and to have an impact on those around us."
Starch Haus brings together creative people, each with their own signature medium - fabric, garment design, sound, 3D visuals, text-based art, and acting. With a primary focus on the process of creating art rather than the outcome, Starch Haus have already put together their manifesto. They released it both in written form and as a film piece. "In art history, manifestos usually dealt with revolutionary ways to define what art meant, guiding the audience to interpret and think about art." says Min Kim, the founder of Starch Haus. Jin Jon Jam, the curator of Starch Haus adds, "we didn't want to define the meaning of art. Rather, we wanted to portray how we deal with inspiration and to show our own art journey to the audience in a comfortable atmosphere. Each of our artists have their own style and message to convey; their work has been part of an ongoing, open discussion. I wanted to merge all the individual voices of our artists into one outcome, hence the manifesto and our first live event".
Min Kim
Starch Haus announced its existence through a manifesto movie, which mirrored the aesthetic of television news. "It was an important metaphor and a perfect way to debut to the world. News media plays an important role in our lives, but it can often brainwash us. We wanted to reverse this process using positivity while also mimicking its modalities," says Jin Jon Jam. "Combining our manifesto with strong 3D visuals helps us wake the audience up to their surroundings to better absorb the event.”
The bold and powerful news broadcast-style film of the manifesto stars Jungle. Dressed as a reporter, she proclaims: "there is no compromise. Art exists to create without complaints and to be able to express dissatisfaction freely, without violence. Producing creative work is a good way to clear our minds when we don't want to be engulfed in thoughts. We will never give up our humanity as a shield against chaos". Behind her, bold red words appear on a black digital screen wetted with raindrops: PUSH OUT / ENCROACH / TASTE / ABSORB / SATISFY / CHAOS / CREATE / SHIELD / EXPLOIT / OBSESSION / PAIN / COMPLEX / PROTEST / FOR. This is a digital artwork created by media artist Danny Choi.
From left to right: Danny Choi, Jungle, Joon Kwak
Some of the words used in Danny's piece seem to contradict each other; this is to reflect the complex, paradoxical identity of artists today, jostling between their own individuality and the need to compromise with the demands of the art world. "I'm an artist," says Jungle, "but I still feel unsure about calling myself that. It's a tough subject; I still struggle with the concept of art and being an artist. I've always seen it as a label attributed to other people, but when you are serious about your work, you should be able to call yourself an artist. It gives you more freedom and space for yourself.”
"In art school, they never told us about how to survive in the real world," Danny continues. "After I graduated, I realised that capitalism is everywhere, and to survive as an artist, you need to sell. It often comes at the cost of our creative freedom," sound artist Joon Kwak adds. "I constantly have to do commercial work, and it's always about doing something for somebody else. When you finish art school, you lose a certain type of creative freedom."
Compromise is something we all must deal with as adults, but for the members of Starch Haus, compromise doesn't exist. They strive for total creative freedom, which they channel into vibrant, provocative work. Their work doesn't just "exist for art's sake,” but also for the sake of the artists.
The result can be seen in their debut live event. It was the first time Starch Haus got to connect with their audience physically, and they did so in the most polyhedral way. This show incorporated a design exhibition, a fashion show, and a multisensory performance that combined acting, sound, and video.
The design exhibition part of the show was orchestrated by UPNOON, a design brand that works within Starch Haus. The three members of UPNOON specialise in print, knitwear, and fashion. Their aim is to defy categories, "to constantly express our dreams and never to concede to harsh realities.” Their installation, titled Thinking Bathroom, was a washroom completely made up of knitted items such as a toilet, a bathtub and a mirror. Its striking-yet-fun purple and acid green motif gave it an almost digital aesthetic, entirely fabric yet seemingly bidimensional. While the Thinking Bathroom uses surrealism and irony to specifically play with our ideas about what art is, the creators would like to keep interpretations of it more open-ended. "We hope that our imagination reflects different things in different people! It's the audience's freedom to take it in however they want."
Dohye Yun
The fashion show and catwalk concept came from aspiring fashion designer Dohye Yun. With her signature chainmail style, Yun designed and crafted an entire collection for Starch Haus' debut event. "I wanted it to be fun, to contrast with the serious tone of the manifesto. I also wanted to do something different to a typical fashion show. Rather than have a catwalk, we had the models walk around and interact with the audience." Dohye collaborated with Danny for the video, which accompanied the défilé. "I knew Danny from before Starch Haus," Dohye tells us, "and I really like his art. I think we have a similar taste, so we had good chemistry".
Synergy and collaboration are essential to Starch Haus. The group regularly highlights them as qualities that lead to meaningful work. There's no sense of competition between these friends, which helps create a comfortable working environment for their art to thrive. This emphasis on friendship is especially integral to the performance team. Led by actress and performer Jungle and backed by the sound and video art of Joon Kwak and Danny Choi, the trio talk fondly about how their newfound connection led to them creating their performance.
"When planning our performance, I kept thinking, 'I don't want to stop'," says Jungle. "There are so many obstacles to making art and so many things that try to block you. It takes real determination to use your voice to move things forward." With her powerful performance, Jungle channels themes of gender and identity. Complemented by Danny's striking video work, the performance opens with Jungle, naked, facing the screen. A red metronomic arrow goes back and forth, and an immersive soundscape fills the space. As Jungle begins dressing, four words appear on the screen: "No more shit show.” From there, everything begins to build towards a climax, becoming louder, bolder and more resonant. "I tried to express the message of our manifesto through sound," Joon informs us. "During the climax, it gets really noisy and loud. The idea was to create an audio portrait of the manifesto, so I imagined the sound as a physical element rather than a musical one."
Starch Haus' debut event is made up of fascinating juxtapositions. It's both playful and fun, yet emotionally powerful and cathartic. "We have had an interesting response from the audience," Min Kim tells us. "We wanted to inspire viewers to reconsider how they view art more broadly, but also their own approach to art. We received a lot of interesting feedback and also had some people tell us that we made them rethink their own artwork, which is what we wanted."
"Many people connected with the message of our manifesto, and it inspired them to create something," adds Joon Kwak. "In a way, our message helped them overcome some of the obstacles held back from pursuing a life as an artist.”
Finally, we asked the members of Starch Haus if they thought their message was a political one. Do they believe that the act of being true to your creative vision and expressing yourself openly is a political one? Starch Haus, however, is a project born out of fun and friendship. It is part of a journey for the artists, a diary of their experiences, and an open discussion on the possibilities of art. Starch Haus exists as an attempt by these artists to live without compromise, which is a courageous act in itself.
For more information, follow Starch Haus @starch.haus.
