This is Not a Real Pipe

Title: This is a Real Pipe
Date: 2022
Medium: mirror-polished stainless steel, pneumatic pipe fittings, wood, and hanji
Size: 62 x 43 x 6.5 cm

This work draws its conceptual origin from René Magritte’s iconic painting, “The Treachery of Images,” which declares, “This is not a pipe.” In contrast, this piece asserts the opposite: “This is a real pipe.”

Here, the pipe is not an image or metaphor, but a tangible, functional object—one that can be physically removed and used. Moreover, it is crafted from pneumatic materials that I frequently employ in my sculptural practice. By embedding the literal object into the frame, the work challenges the distinction between representation and reality, suggesting that art need not merely point to essence—it can become the essence itself.