MOORED ALONG A MYTH, THE MACHINE, & MY MOUTH

Billing centers this focus on plants, most often used for medicinal purposes, to produce portraits similar to x-rays. Though often interpreted as the "soul" or "spirit" of its subject, electrophotography captures material interactions, primarily influenced by moisture and conductivity. Each photo expresses an anthropomorphic capture of the plants’ energy. Accompanying these portraits are conductive aluminum panels made in the image of early Jacquard punch cards, a precursor to the technology used in early computational machines. Each panel is inscribed with an abbreviated quotation from 14th century heretical mystic, Maguerrite Porete’s devotional text, The Mirror of Simple Souls, with words of divination translated into binary code. 

The anthropomorphizing of the plants is also an impulse in Youn’s work which utilizes found technology, in mainly massagers amongst others, to animate plastic flowers in movement. These moments become portraits imbued with sensitivities to certain emotive expressions like anxiety, confidence, and vulnerability. With each specific…