Jung-Yeon Ma: White Hands and Black Clothes #00
The author introduces a planned research project on international video art networks but reveals her struggle with personal grief and creative paralysis.Summary
The author, Jung-Yeon Ma, is a 2026 research fellow at Kansai University planning to investigate international institutions and museums crucial to contemporary video art, such as KADIST, Han Nefkens Foundation, and e-flux. However, she has been unable to write a single word for four months since starting. This paralysis stems from the recent, gradual loss of a significant person who shared half her life with her—an experience of profound, undefined grief that has left her physically and emotionally damaged. While she is slowly recovering, she remains troubled by her tendency to focus on the negative, as seen in a blunt remark she made at a judging panel about South Korean history, which shocked the room. She fears this "poisonous" perspective could harm others in her field. This introductory installment of her series promises future reports from her research travels, framed not just as work updates but as stories about "friends"—colleagues in video media studies she deeply respects—who help her find the courage to see the world positively.
(Source：ART iT)