Mar 25, 2026

ORIGINAL ARTICLE BY "Jin Sil Lee"

[비평] 1인 미디어시대의 욕망과 불안을 패러디하기

Image Source

TRANSLATED BY BEAM

I still remember the initial shock when I first saw Cherry Jang on Twitter. At a first glance, I thought this was a genuine video from a conspiracy theorist - not a performance piece. But, it turns out, this is the artist, Sungsil Ryu's video work and ever since then I was fascinated by her. It might be obvious from my art style but something about people like - Marshall Applewhite (Heaven's Gate) or any cult and conspiracy adjacent people that I can't take my eyes off. The way their insanity and disconnect unfolds on their blank, empty stare begs me to question what really is going in their mind. 

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Cherry Jang stood out to me as an amalgamation of this specific 'aesthetic' of insanity that really isn't specific to one culture. In some respects, yes. But the overarching theme and direction remains consistent. 

So I wanted to share the few translated excerpts from visual art critic, Jin Sil Lee's article on Cherry Jang:

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The avatar, Cherry Jang, in a way, may not be so absurd - but perfectly realistic. The excessively staged, crude editing, the accent and the eye lines that aligns with the camera, the glimpse of the flimsy space in the background and the overt sexual suggestiveness is murky - yet a familiar look of a content creator who craves to make a contact with the outside world. Ryu exposes the desires, sensations, and classism in communication surrounding the middle class population in the content creation era with nuance through imitating the ‘DIY guru’ way of painting the most ‘Marketable’ picture to an extreme degree.

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The description on how Ryu stages her video to create that 'DIY guru' aesthetic is the most relatable part for me on this take. I think it is the flimsiness that blurs the line between what's real and what's not, because we don't typically expect it from the 'legitimate' videos produced by more popular creators. 

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On one hand, as all the black comedies do, a thin thread of sympathy for the insignificant people can be found in Cherry Jang’s video. Excluded from high value information circles, they are deluded by the fake news and swayed by the groundless conspiracy theories, which signifies the anxiety and vulnerability of the non-elite middle class.

The true arrival of the 21st century's new and open information world is announced by the era of content creation, transitioning from the 20th century's closed circuit era of radios and televisions.

I thought it was important to reflect on how user created content (god this term brings me back) led to the demise of 20th century's closed circuit world. I think I personally witnessed the transition growing up in the mid 2010s, where televised shows no longer were talked among youth and content creators were no longer a microcelebrity but a legitimately influential figure on those age group.

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Ryu takes this entanglement between sex tourism and filial gift as a motif, and lets the controversial subject of tourism; sex work industry; or life and death; to remain as an ironic comedy instead of examining it in a serious or critical perspective. The rustling lump that is left at the end of the bizarre tour is the fact that the life’s natural and necessary concerns such as family, filial responsibilities, death, health and longevity are attached to the unquenchable drive for material possession and sex, and moreover the sense of restrainment to the capitalist reality where these uncomfortable facts are used as a decoy.

For me, personally I think this is the part that I most admire about Ryu's work. The uncomfortable grey area that we need to turn a blind eye in order to sustain our capitalist world - is full on display, not depressingly, but comedically. It's like a Disney Land for old Korean geezers (unique, but similar theme could be observed in White Lotus Season 2).

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As such, Ryu gladly puts on her avatar, Cherry Jang or Natasha’s mask - the vulnerable signifiers who are easily reduced into the object of desire or hatred. (...) Ryu meticulously packs the space with so-called ‘DIY’, ‘Kitsch’, ‘B rated’ aesthetic whether it is the videos or 3D sculptures. Even from the promotional video, Ching Chen, the fictional tourist city viewed from gallery hall’s ‘Cruise’ is stuffed with oversaturated faux nature such as butterfly, flower, waterfall, and rainbow and it sparkles under the familiar and stereotypical names with mythological roots, which includes amethyst cave, underwater cottage, and the golden palace. 

The craft itself is another big deal as well. Visually, I think it's extremely intriguing. It reminds me of Federico Solmi's works. And a lot of it is so uniquely Korean, I can't help but to find it relatable.