June Pak
Paint Job 23: Modern Fuel, Artist-Run-Centre, Kingston, ON (2008)
11”x17” (dibond mounting), digital print
Retail value: $500 Reserve bid: $250
Stemming from the interest in investigating the relationship and the effects of surroundings to those who occupy that space, I decided to take my project into different people’s homes. By proposing the choice of colour to the participants, we engage in a subtle exchange of culture and art-making. With the invitation to their home, I bring my materials and paint a square on their choice of wall. The colour swatch I am using in this project is called “Algonquin Autumn”: The name of the colour series suggests the idea of the Great Northern Ontario landscape and its pivotal role in the Group of Seven’s paintings, and the underlining reflection on the Canadian cultural identity. As an immigrant from Korea, the act of “self-invitation” to various Canadian homes is an intriguing play on the idea of ownership.
Paint Job is an on-going project that engages with everyday life and its social dynamic. It emphasizes the dialogue and the interaction rather than the final art as a tangible product. Prints that I make at the end of each visit are documentation of the ephemeral exchange along with short text and occasional videos recording the moment. Paint Job blurs the boundary between art and design, the artist and the audience and, the object and the consumption.