[Work Introduction]
This installation features a helium-filled balloon that rises toward the ceiling and descends again in a recurring 15-second cycle. Originating from a dream in which all members of the artist’s family appeared and gradually disappeared one by one—evoking a complex mixture of subtle responsibility, anxiety, and comfort—the work visualizes the ambivalent emotions embedded within the notion of family.
 
[Artist’s Intention and Critical Perspectives]
The ascent of free will: the balloon’s upward surge represents the primordial human will to traverse institutions and conventions.

Heartbeat and potentiality: the critic Ryu Hanseung described the reverberating sound of the balloon striking the exhibition ceiling as “a heartbeat that awakens our latent power.”

Toward de-codification: although it collides with the physical boundary of reality (the ceiling), its refusal to cease ascending symbolizes the uniquely human capacity to seek freedom from codification.
 
Artist’s Note
“The short 15-second cycle in which it must strike the ceiling and fall back down. Yet the ascent never truly stops. This is the inherent capacity of a living, breathing human being, and the ultimate orientation of my work.”

● 15 seconds, made up of white balloons and sounds, symbolize a dream, which originated from a dream that he had experienced in the past. The delicate sense of responsibility, anxiety, and comfort that he felt during the process of the family appearing and disappearing one by one caused mixed emotions. Dreams, the manifestation of latent unconsciousness, are shared only by living creatures, and the balloon to rise represents our fundamental willingness to cross institutions and customs.
 
Although the balloon must hit the ceiling and come down again in a short cycle of 15 seconds, the rise never stops. Freedom from coding is the unique ability of living human beings and is also the ultimate directing point of Park Jung-hyuk's work. The tapping of balloons heavily ringing on the exhibition center may be a heartbeat that awakens our potential power.