Originally from Busan, South Korea, Youjin Moon (b. 1985) received her BFA in Oriental Painting from Seoul’s Hongik University followed by two MFAs from MassArt—Painting in 2013 and Film/Video in 2015. Currently teaching at the latter, Moon has steadily accumulated a dazzling, idiosyncratic body of work shown in both installation and theatrical forms. Her work has been featured in museums, galleries, festivals and cinemas internationally. She received the Korean EXiS Award at the 12th and 16th Experimental Film and Video Festivals in Seoul.

Her foundation in painting as well as her work in photography and photochemical filmmaking inform a textural approach to her cinematic craft. Seemingly located in a dimension somewhat similar to this one, Moon’s layered worlds orbit somewhere between inner and outer, macro and micro, Earth and space, liquid and solid, natural and constructed, scientific and science fiction. Even when accompanied by electronic beeps or buzzing, these transforming spaces manifest as living, breathing, complex cosmoses frequently grounded by familiar terrestrial sights, albeit slightly altered or distorted. All elements eventually fold into Moon’s complex spatial fabric, which is in a constant state of flux, always transitioning to something breathtakingly new and intricate. In an interview in the Boston Globe, Moon notes that she is “interested in how collage can create mental imagery of dreamlike spaces. I revisit the same place and find simple things, unconventional moments, different times of day. Then I create an improvisational depiction of uncanny space.” She manages to achieve another delicate balance: between the sense of a free-associative natural rhythm and a marked precision that governs both the exquisite imagery and its reactive, dynamic soundtrack.

In the work of the first part of the program, the atmospheres and elements of the moons of Jupiter influence the moods, palettes and composition of the videos. In these, she seems to extract an organic sentience out of the ones and zeroes. By the later pieces, however, the warmth of biology recedes, revealing the grids and geometry of technology—no less breathtaking. Throughout all the work, viewers are induced into a constant state of wonder and captivation, experiencing a sense of discovering realms unknown. Eyes wide open, relaxed yet alert, her audience is free to make myriad associations among dislocated galaxies where there is darkness and light, beauty and mystery within a perpetual cycle of countless births and deaths, both of this world and far beyond. – Brittany Gravely

The Harvard Film Archive welcomes Youjin Moon to the theater for a magical evening of film and discussion.

MassArt students, faculty and staff admitted free. Please bring a valid ID.