Like to Like

A single heart icon sits alone on a black screen. Today, we often find ourselves powerless before this charming little icon. In this work, which exposes the compulsion to “like” that runs through the age of social media, visitors are allowed only to tap or click the heart. Other functions are unnecessary. Indeed, impossible. We are already eternal fans of “like.” The work’s extreme simplicity, focused solely on liking, turns our attention to the action itself. And this simple action surrounds our daily lives. Repeated endlessly before an ever-increasing number, it mirrors our compulsion. Amid this ritual repetition, a question sometimes arises: is what we like, ultimately, “like” itself? The work captures our contradictory desires: responding to likes while craving others’ attention, and ignoring likes while displaying indifference. It deserves to be permanently displayed in the lobby of Design House, which is moved by those desires and, in turn, moves them. The work was first presented in Guhong and Yoonkee at Gallery Jiwooheon in June 2024.