Bae Sejin Waiting for Godot by Aubert Jansem Galerie

Bae Sej in WAITI NG FOR GODOT

16 September – 18 November 2017

Aubert-Jansem Galerie Rue Saint-Victor, 11 - 1227 Carouge – Geneva Switzerland 1

was able to draw on both assets. This, in addition to her brilliant academic record enables her to embody a holistic approach, a crucial element within the expression of art she seeks to embody. She balances self-awareness with openness to others. From both the tests and gifts life has given her, Lorraine renounces nothing and transforms everything. This formula affords her a lucid perspective, empowering her as a woman, a mother and a daughter. To comprehend Bruno, picture a family constellation consistently influenced by a strong moral sense, cross-culturalism and the arts. This has proven fertile ground for curiosity, high expectations and a passion for travel. Intuitively, Bruno draws his knowledge and experience from diverse fields such as languages, law and art. He cultivates an astute mix of intellectual rigor and creativity. This empowers Bruno to distinguish himself in the worlds of art expertise and brokerage. Complementary to this, is his inherent passion for travelling very much off the beaten track. By uniting his deep spiritual sense and connection to nature, Bruno works for preservation through art and charity. Different pathways, common values, one passion for art. Lorraine and Bruno honor their roots and their hearts. They exemplify the ability to choose the movement and its magnitude. For one, it is about creating her space, for the other it is about exploring his. But for both, innovation goes hand in hand with lineage. This duo of adventurers inspires those who know the past, live the present and build the future.

To appreciate Lorraine’s and Bruno’s mindset, read between her hand lines and see his like the many borders he has crossed. To recognize their realizations, see with their eyes. ‘History doesn’t repeat itself but it does rhyme’ said Mark Twain, so let’s read and rhyme. Lorraine, heir of an illustrious family whose history illuminates her life’s path. With a genealogy populated by notorious and recognized personalities, she is a woman who simply must diverge from inherited expectations. She endorses the values she believes in, expresses them through her passion for the arts, and hands them carefully to the next generation. This is her contribution to the continuing legacy. These deep roots nourish and expand the branches of her Tree of Life. With a mother favoring a quiet, inner life which fed Lorraine’s interest for arts and esthetics, and with a gregarious father with a very public life, she

As part of the Carougeois ceramic journey, the Aubert-Jansem Gallery is proud to present the work of Bae Sejin. Bae Sejin works with similarly-sized square tiles of clay that he cuts prior to beginning his creative practice. Each one represents a material unit of time and is stamped with a specific number, the last one to date is 172451. The intentional and patient application of all these elements is at the core of Bae Sejin’s composition. The construction of each work and its continuous transformation through the controlled repetition of a same movement is carried out until the perfect outcome is achieved. Bae Sejin’s process recalls natural cycles, those of Man and of Life. The use of the perfect geometrical square as basic unit allows the artist to produce a unique sculptural and architectural aesthetic. The title of the exhibit – Waiting for Godot – is a reference to Samuel Beckett’s play and speaks to the artist’s cherished affair with the concept of time and repetition. Bae Sejin, a Korean artist born in 1981 and active in Seoul, embodies the combination of thousand year-old traditions with a nascent and evolving contemporaneity that is radically altering the art world thanks to his talented and skillful approach. As a steward of this artistic revolution and through his sculptural oeuvre, Bae Sejin pushes us to reflect on the concept of time, on gestural mastery, and on the significance repetition holds for process and outcome.

ARTIST' STATEMENT I & II

The laps of t ime involves durat ion, repet it ion, transformat ion, circulat ion. It is continuous, repetitive and circular. the change always follows with the repetition and circulation. This time is along with nature as well as human. However, modern society increasingly separates it between human and nature, which has become the main cause of the alienation of human beings, and prevalent in modern society. In the boundary of art, a study of the laps of time is ultimately a study of the human. Samuel Beckett revealed the laps of time in nature in his play ‘Waiting for Godot’, by the two main characters repeatedly waiting for the Godot. Beckett’s plays become the motives of my work and title. Working with the clay as a natural material is unifying the time of nature and human. The clay contains the time of duration, repetition, transformation and circulation. And the artist inevitably harmonize himself with the laps of time in nature. and the one who work with have to match the time with it inevitably, in order to work with. I think the essentiality of the clay material is the laps of time, and worked through with the clay to reveal the laps of time. The continuos repetition of labor would be inevitable in order to visualize infinite of time because human is mortal. Putting the serial numbers and attaching tens of thousands of small blocks leads me to the stage of impassivity and makes super temporal experience. I discover myself in super temporal experience. The experience of these can be passed through by the work made by constant repetition of labor, to the audience too. I tried to visualize and record the laps of time in nature by working with it. The continuing repetition of labor helps me to overcome with alienation of human beings and to discover myself by the super temporal experience. Recording the laps of time gets its meaning only when performed repeatedly for a long time and it can deliver to audiences. So, I think the last three years of work experience is not me long. On the basis of what I have studied, I will try to get closer to the repetitive and circular time of nature by continuing repetition of labor.

I bui lt the form by put ing together pieces of clay. And I started stamping numbers on the pieces such as - 1,2,3,4,5,.... So, each piece has a serial number. Numbers are continued to the next work when the previous one is completed. The motif of my work is the drama written by Samuel Beckeet. Two people are waiting for Godot under a tree. However, they do not really know who Godot is and the reason for waiting. They wait for Godot for the whole day but Godot sends a boy to tell them that he cannot come today. Although they are disappointed, they decide to wait again tomorrow. On the following day, flowers of the tree are bloomming and they are still waiting for Godot. One of them knows that the flowers bloomed but the other one says that yesterday they waited at a different place. In the evening, the boy’s twin brother comes to tells them that Godot cannot come. I think that craft, in general, can be compared to this play. To make a good piece of work, repeated behavior is needed. To deal with clay, the artist has to wait for a long time. I am using pieces of clay and numbering to record the repeated behavior and the time of waiting. 198,077 is the number of pieces that I have made until now.

WFG-1, 2014 Stoneware Height. 19 cm / 7 Diam. 100 cm / 39

1/2 3/8

in. in.

WFG-2, 2017 White porcelain, pigment and ink on paper Height. 87 cm / 34 1/4 in. Width. 40 cm / 15 3/4 in.

WFG-3, 2017 White porcelain, pigment Height. 60 cm / 23 5/8 in. Diam. 65 cm / 25 5/8 in.

WFG-4, 2017 Stoneware Height. 64 cm / 25 1/4 in. Width. 64 cm / 25 1/4 in. Depth. 47 cm / 18 1/2 in.

WFG-5, 2017 White porcelain, pigment and ink on paper Height. 94 cm / 37 in. Width. 73 cm / 28 3/4 in.

WFG-6, 2017 White porcelain, pigment and ink on paper Height. 93 cm / 36 5/8 in. Width. 73 cm / 28 3/4 in.

WFG-7, 2017 White porcelain Height. 30 cm / 11 3/4 in. Diam. 30 cm / 11 3/4 in.

WFG-8, 2015 White porcelain, pigment Height. 35 cm / 13 3/4 in. Diam. 65 cm / 25 5/8 in.

WFG-9, 2017 White porcelain, pigment Height. 43 cm / 16 7/8 in Diam. 36 cm / 14 1/8 in.

WFG-10, 2017 White porcelain, pigment and ink on paper Height. 93 cm / 36 5/8 in. Width. 73 cm / 28 3/4 in.

WFG-11, 2017 Stoneware, pigment and ink on paper Height. 100 cm / 39 3/8 in. Width. 80 cm / 31 1/2 in.

WFG-12, 2017 White porcelain, pigment and ink on paper Height. 70 cm / 27 1/2 in. Width. 52 cm / 20 1/2 in.

WFG-13, 2017 White porcelain, pigment and ink on paper Height. 87 cm / 34 1/4 in. Width. 40 cm / 15 3/4 in.

WFG-14, 2017 White porcelain, pigment Height. 30 cm / 11 3/4 in. Diam. 55 cm / 21 5/8 in.

WFG-15, 2017 White porcelain, pigment and ink on paper Height. 93 cm / 36 5/8 in. Width. 73 cm / 28 3/4 in.

WFG-16, 2017 White porcelain, pigment Height. 28 cm / 11 in. Diam. 30 cm / 11 3/4 in.

WFG-17, 2017 White porcelain, pigment Height. 52 cm / 20 1/2 in. Diam. 61 cm / 24 in.

WFG-18, 2017 White porcelain, pigment Openings : 63 cm / 24 3/4 in. Length. 56 cm / 22 in.

WFG-19, 2017 White porcelain, pigment Height. 18 cm / 7 1/8 in. Length. 36 cm / 14 1/8 in. Depth. 10 cm / 4 in.

WFG-20, 2017 White porcelain, pigment and ink on paper Height. 40 cm / 15 3/4 in. Length. 87 cm / 34 1/4 in.

WFG-21, 2017 White porcelain, pigment Height. 18 cm / 7 1/8 in. Width. 27 cm / 10 5/8 in. Length. 32 cm / 12 5/8 in

Bae Sejin

2016 Waiting for Godot, sanulrim art & craft, Seoul 2016 Make Your Movement, Korean Cultural Centre UK, London 2016 Dwell on Design, LA Convention Center, LA 2016 XXIVe Biennale Internationale de Vallauris, Vallauris 2016 XXI Triennale International Exhibition Design after Design ‘Making is Thinking is Making’, La Triennale di Milano Palazzo DELL’ARTE, Milano 2016 Kap-Sun Hwang und seine Schüler, Galerie Handwerk, Munich 2015 Craft Trend Fair, COEX, Seoul 2015 Seoul Craft Fair, DDP, Seoul 2015 SOFA, Navy Pier Festival Hall, Chicago 2015 Revelations, Grand Palais, Paris 2015 Collect, Saatchi Gallery, London 2015 G SEOUL, DDP, Seoul 2015 Private space, Woong Gallery, Seoul 2015 Craft Market, Hankyung Gallery, Seoul 2015 Hotel Art Fair, Novotel Ambassador, Suwon 2014 Craft Trend Fair, COEX, Seoul 2014 The trajectory of Korea Contemporary Art 2, Seoul National University Cultural Center, Seoul 2014 Artist Craft, Jinsun Gallery, Seoul 2014 ART Edition, Hangaram art museum, Seoul 2014 SOFA, Navy Pier Festival Hall, Chicago 2014 52-1, Soohoh Rom Gallrey, Busan 2014 Bom Bom Bom, SPACE U, Bundang seoul national university hospital, Seongnam 2014 Home Table Deco Fair, BEXCO, Busan 2014 Seoul Ceramic Art Fair, Hangaram Design museum, Seoul 2014 Maison & Objet, Parc des Expotisions de Paris Nord Villepinte, Paris 2013 Craft Trend Fair, COEX, Seoul 2013 Craft sympathy, vogoze, Seoul 2013 New Past - Museum Artifacts and contemporary Ceramics, Seoul National University Museum, Seoul 2013 52-1, Soohoh Rom gallery, Busan 2012 Asian Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition, Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taipei 2012 Korean Contemporary Crafts Art Festival, Hangaram art museum, Seoul 2012 Bae sejin 1st solo Exhibition 078404, Woosukhall, Seoul 2011 Iksan Korea Arts and Craft Award Special Exhibition, Iksan 2010 Paper Moon, Hyun gallery, Seoul 2010 Hyun Hyun Hyun, Osaka hyatt gallery, Osaka

2012 M.F.A Seoul National University 2010 B.F.A Seoul National University

AWARDS 2017 Mino International Ceramic Competiton, honorable mention 2017 Gyeonggi International Ceramix Biennale Competiton, Seleted 2017 LOEWE craft prize, Final list 2015 Taiwan Ceramics Biennale International Competition, Bronze prize 2015 Cheongju International Craft Competition, Silver prize 2015 Korea Ceramic Arts Award of Korea, Bronze prize 2015 Iksan Korea Arts and Craft Award, Seleted 2012 Seoul Contemporary Ceramic Competition, Seleted 2012 Iksan Korea Arts and Craft Award, Special seletion 2012 Korea Ceramic Arts Award of Korea, Gold prize 2012 Collegiate Ceramic Art Competition, Special seletion 2011 Taiwan Ceramics Biennale International Competition, Seleted 2011 Seoul Contemporary Ceramic Competition, Seleted 2011 Gyeonggi International Ceramix Biennale Competiton, Seleted 2011 National Competition of Mokpo ceramic, Excellence award 2010 Seoul Contemporary Ceramic Competition, Seleted 2010 Iksan Korea Arts and Craft Award, Grand prize 2010 Ulsan International Onggi Competition, Special seletion 2009 Seoul Contemporary Ceramic Competition, Seleted 2009 Iksan Korea Arts and Craft Award, Seleted 2009 Ulsan International Onggi Competition, Gold prize 2009 Cheongju International Craft Competition, Seleted

EXHIBITION 2017 Making is Thinking is Making, projectbox siya, Seoul 2017 collective Design, skylight Clarkson sq, New york 2017 Revelations, Grand Palais, Paris 2017 Layer, sanulrim art & craft, Seoul 2016 SOFA, Navy Pier Festival Hall, Chicago

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Acknowledgments Fondation Bruckner pour la promotion de la céramique, Carouge, Switzerland Emilie Fargues Mélanie Varin Fondation Loewe, Madrid, Spain Pr Touba Ghadessi, PHD Steve de Bonvoisin

Credits Bae Sejin S. Dubouchet/The Cube Productions Irina Popa CBC communication