[One Thousand Characters a Day] Author Jo Wonjae's 'Life Shines Through Art' <3>

Editor's NoteWriter Jo Wonjae introduces over 100 works by artists such as Van Gogh, C?zanne, Munch, Kim Chang-ryeol, Lee Ufan, and Jang Uk-jin, who left unique works transcending time and space, answering the essential question of "How should we live?" Through his own experience, he sincerely conveys that art is not something distant from our lives and that anyone can become an artist. He naturally shifts the perspective of readers who have enjoyed and liked art but thought it was separate from their own lives. To live not as life happens but as one wishes, one must once undertake rebellion and wandering; this cannot be done by someone else but must be navigated by oneself. Sometimes, one must be sufficiently lazy, free from social responsibilities and pressures. Above all, to discover the beautiful and special moments scattered throughout life, one must look anew at every moment. That is the secret to turning the one and only life into art. Word count: 1028.

Vincent van Gogh was no different. Throughout his twenties, he wandered through various jobs such as an art gallery clerk, a teacher for impoverished children, an exam candidate preparing to enter seminary, and a preacher for mine workers. After passing through this tunnel of wandering, it was only in his late twenties that he decided to pursue the path of a painter, a decision he never changed.

(Omitted)

We are all born as blank slates, ignorant of ourselves. Vincent was no exception. He disliked being in a state of ignorance about himself. He did not want to remain in that state for his entire life and then pass away. So, in his twenties, he chose the path of becoming a chrysalis himself. Becoming a chrysalis, he spent several years of arduous time "getting to know himself," clearly realizing that he had to become a being who paints. Later, starting again from a state of ignorance about painting, he once more became a chrysalis, spending another arduous time "getting to know himself," and finally reborn as a painter who "created his own unique world of painting." Vincent van Gogh is not the only artist who successfully completed these two metamorphosis processes and became a butterfly with "his own unique personality." Every artist with an original artistic world inevitably undergoes this chrysalis process.

What is interesting is that this chrysalis process is not experienced only by those called artists. Everyone is in this process. Whether exercising, singing, inventing, doing business, trading, cooking, writing, dancing, speaking, or whatever one chooses in life, this process is ongoing. Humans are all born as blank slates ignorant of themselves. Some may never know themselves accurately until the day they die. Others choose to become a chrysalis themselves to find out "who I am." Within that chrysalis, some discover their own answers, break through the shell, and become butterflies, while others fail. Of course, if one does not give up despite repeated failures, one can eventually become a butterfly. The possibility of a caterpillar breaking through the chrysalis shell and becoming a butterfly is always open. It entirely depends on the caterpillar's choice and effort.

－Jo Wonjae, Life Shines Through Art, Dasan Chodang, 18,800 KRW