[WALK_Reminiscence of Life, Trace, and Communication] by Seung Young, Kim (May 4 - Jun 3, 2011 )
Artist Seung Young Kim has been working with media, installation, and site-specific artworks using natural elements such as water, leaves, moss and so on and addressing the themes of 'communication' and 'memory'.
The current exhibition represents the media, lights, and installation artworks derived from his ordinary experiences and reminiscence within the artist's life.
While Seung Young Kim reproduces disappearing things or forgotten objects like old speakers, and chairs, his artworks conveys the pleasure of introspection as well as the spaces of life through the exhibition space. With this, the exhibition's intention is to induce viewers to meditate in order to recall the traces of today's human life and provide the viewers with 'resting' space.
1. Chair
The red iron chair located in the middle of the exhibition space keeps 38 degree temperature and let audiences sit and feel the warmth of the chair. As audiences discover the warmth of the chair that they've never expected, they are able to feel the sense of comfort. This red chair reminds him of his mother who used to sell something in winter in a traditional market in his childhood. This warmth of the chair used by water offers the vivid pleasure of life through the object.
2. Strasbourg
This artwork Strasbourg represents the circulation of 'death' and 'life' through the two channel videos repeated. One day, the artist Seung Young found the death of a bird on the street in Strasbourg, located in the northern France. While he tracks the trace of the bird's death as the observer, he discovers the blossoming sprouts and moss between fences and full of bricks. This work ultimately is focused on the life starting to blossom while one meets the death.
3. Ripple 4. Memory
The artwork Memory represents the countless names of people that the artist meets and memorizes since he was born. Ripple is sculpted and made of marble. This work expresses the meaning of 'traces' through 'reminiscence' and 'communication'. The described wave motion by dropping water on the marble surface denotes the emotional and external conflicts with one another. Both artworks symbolize and form a shape of "I", indicating self-identity, by printing the names all together in the Memory and by shaping the waterdrops in the Ripple.
5. TOWER
In 1999, the artist Seung Young Kim was participated in artist residency program at P.S.1 in New York City for about one year. At the time, He experienced difficulties in cultural boundaries and language barrier. He felt isolated and had to adopt and overcome new things in life and culture. Having a hard time communicating with others became a motif for Tower, indicating communication gap by blocking himself from the outer world as well as the rebirth of abandoned objects (speakers) by bringing the mixture of natural sounds. The Tower is made of 186 speakers in total from national and international speaker companies. The height is approximately 7 meters and total 8 sounds are mixed.
6. Trace
The work Trace makes use of a natural object such as water to generate the beauty of the form. The Trace has waterhole forms. When one walks into the exhibition space each floor, it is very pleasant to discover the waterhole forms in places that can embody a delicate sensibility even in a limited environment.
7. Memory
The Video Installation work Memory 1963-2011 shows the countless names of people that the artist Seung Young meets and memorizes since he was born until now, indicating the significant meanings of 'memory', 'communication', and 'trace'. The names in his memories pass through without any ornamental element. In a serene atmosphere, the names flow like an ending credit of a film. This work conveys the messages that there exists significant relationships among the past, the present, and the future, as well as communications with one another. A lyrical music piece by Oh, Yoon-Seok who composed brings about an entirely placid, hupnotic mood.
8. Clouds
The artwork clounds shows the appearing and disappearing clouds in a sky blue scene room, indicating the order of nature, creation, and extinction. The cloud form moves around freely with strong wind sounds and suddenly disappears. Illusionary image of the cloud form reflects off the waterhole, thus adding a more sense of reality.
