Below are excerpts from each interview:
What is June Korea's artistic past?
June Korea received his B.S. in Industrial Engineering in South Korea, and after moving to the U.S. in 2009, he received his B.F.A. in Photography and Film from the Art Center College of Design in California, and expanded his field of study at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, earning an M.F.A. in Photography, Video, and Related Media.
Photographer June Korea Explores Sex Doll Life
Why are you so fascinated by photographing sex dolls?
This project began a few weeks after the end of June's last relationship while he was working on his master's thesis, a heartbreaking experience. They were created at a time when he was struggling emotionally rather than stabilizing.
Jun began photographing dolls in 2001, observing their secret lives as he had done as a child. For several years he used the dolls to create his photography. Since then, he began to ask himself, “Why do I photograph dolls?”
For him, it was loneliness. He had an active social life, but every time he woke up, he found himself alone at home; coming home from work or a party, he always felt empty and alone in the crowd. The people, the moments, the things he wished would always be there were either gone or had disappeared, and he knew others would be too. That's why I was interested in photographing sex dolls, because objects that look like people but are inanimate never disappear.
Did you buy the dolls for the shoot or did you want them for yourself?
When deciding to create this work, June researched many sex dolls on the market to find the one that looked the most human. Then he received a huge sex doll storage case, and when he was ready to open it, his hands trembled slightly.
The name “Eve” is a combination of the words ‘Forever’ and “Eve.” -According to the Abrahamic creation myths, Eve was the first woman, and Eve and June were very close. They sleep together, wake up together, shop together, eat together, drive together, and even travel together. Just like normal people, they would laugh together, cry together, and feel joy and loneliness together.
How was their relationship? What does Eva mean to Jun?
Jun's aim is not to show a real relationship: he's the creator and it's just a fantasy they build together. In real life, Eve doesn't really have a life. He is waiting for Google to implant AlphaGo into Aiwawa's body. So a fictional world is created through photography. In a sense, Jun gave birth to Eve.
Eve and Jun are metaphors: metaphors for their emotions and their relationships with people, cats, dogs, AIs and ordinary people living in this lonely world.
So what is June's ultimate goal?
Jun believes that AI will eventually be implanted in the human body, rather than in the body itself, and that shemale sex dolls might be the way to go. Technology is advancing far beyond our expectations, and it may happen in 10 years, or it may only take 5 years to see some progress. He strongly believes that art should be ready for new generations, new types of relationships, and touch on new themes related to our emotions, morals and lives.
What inspired him to create this work? Was he trying to imitate other photographers?
In June, the main influences were not tangible suggestions or affects, but rather emotions experienced in daily life, relationships or environments. He translates these intangible influences into his own visions, metaphors and narratives. His work is a sponge that absorbs self-consciousness and a mirror that reflects itself.
What role do dolls play in modern society? What are their shortcomings?
Since his creation, he has been researching the sex doll industry and the people who live with them. The global market and population are
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