Man on the chair

The man on the chair is tormented and constantly doubts his very own existence. His creator, JEONG Dahee, makes the comment, “It is merely a picture that I created… Could I also be an image crafted by others?” With a philosophical touch in a playful and visually challenging manner, this animated short film raises existential questions: “Where do I come from?” “Where am I?” “What is the universe?” During her studies of art history, animation director JEONG encountered many paintings and sculptures that portray a figure thinking while sitting on a chair. Inspired by her discovery that over the centuries many artists have depicted seated figures contemplating the “existence of humanity”, the artist developed her own unique and sophisticated version of a man falling into deep thought as he sits on a chair.

The world of the creator and the “man” created by her are reflected infinitely. Images unfold seamlessly from the inside of the cube-shaped room and the universe outside like on an eternal Möbius strip. The way the work is constructed like this is very interesting. When the end credits roll, everything is turned on its head. What was the film suggesting? It’s rare to see a work as intriguing as this, with so many intelligent conceits. It creates a picture with a sense of tension amidst order. (OHI Fumio)