Leaving an eternal mark with Kim Joon

The Seoul-born photographer Kim Joon’s exploration, and obsession, of tattoo culture reaches back to his military days four decades ago. We ask Joon about depicting taboo, image obsession, and identity.

WORDS: OSKAR HAMMARKRANTZ, PHOTOGRAPHY: KIM JOON

HOW DID IT ALL START? WHY DID YOU WANT TO CREATE ART AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE PHOTOGRAPHY AS YOUR MEDIUM?
My dream was to be in a rock band, but I chose painting as it was more personal and I could work more freely. The initial work was painting in the form of objects. However, after more than a decade of work, the cost of maintaining a physical workspace and the accumulated work in the storage caused tremendous stress. It is also the stress that arises from the 'body' that forms the basis of my work. In the meantime, the 3D computer graphics that I came across provided me with infinite virtual space and models without monthly rent and naturally led to the current form of work.

YOU SEEM TO BE INSPIRED BY WESTERN POP CULTURE. IS THAT COMMON IN KOREA?
With the U.S. military still stationed in Korea, still a divided country, the culture that I could enjoy in my adolescence in the 70s and 80s was very limited, and pop and rock music broadcast by U.S. Forces Korea-AFKN and FM radio had a great influence on me. At least, my generation, being in an era where American culture was dominant, had no choice but to be influenced by it. It is also like a tattoo engraved on my consciousness and heart.

“Tattoos are wonderful metaphors that explain life to me.”

ARE THERE ALSO TYPICAL KOREAM ELEMENTS IN YOUR ART?
Patterns from Korean traditional art are often borrowed. I want to create a new Korean style by modernizing it.

ARE YOUR IMAGES INTENDED TO BE SEXUAL OR SENSUAL? OR JUST COMMENT ON COMMERCIALISM?
The charm of tattoos is that opposite concepts coexist. Pain and pleasure, dreams and reality, self-harm and self-gratification... So it is similar to life. It is grotesque. My recent work is also an extension of my early tattoo work and tells the reality that I see through the images in which living objects, sensuality and death, and commercialized body fragments coexist.

CAN YOU PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE STATUS OF TATTOOS IN KOREA? IS IT SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE? AND IS IT STILL FORBIDDEN FOR ANYONE WHO HASN´T GOT A MEDICAL DEGREE TO PERFORM A TATTOO?
It is still known that tattooing is officially classified as a medical practice. However, social beliefs about tattoos have begun to change and more than ever, tattoos are also viewed as a part of the culture, and the restrictions on tattooing have been eased.

WHAT SPECIAL MEANING DOES TATTOOING HAVE TO YOU?
I am inside of me. We trace the tattoos engraved in our consciousness. Tattoos are wonderful metaphors that explain life to me.