Sunjung Kim — Promenade in Seoul

Promenade in Seoul

Art Sonje Center, Gallery IHN, ONE AND J Gallery, Lee Hwaik Gallery, Gallery SKAPE, OPSIS ART

The director of MAAP Kim Machan and I talked about the LANDSEASKY exhibition and the way it might tour to Seoul before it continued to China and Australia. After considering the circumstances of the exhibition, I suggested a different style of presentation that would depart from a conventional exhibition and solve some of the logistical issues that a large group video installation exhibition poses. I thought if we can show the art works in several galleries across the Samcheongdong district, the audience can have more time to consider each individual gallery’s exhibition through the physical walk between the galleries, which are situated quite near by each other.

The image of audiences sightseeing in the cultural district, like taking a promenade from one place to another, is reminiscent of scenes we might see in traditional oriental painting. The project ‘Platform Seoul’ (2006–2010), introduced a similar multiple gallery collaborative exhibition format. When several galleries participate in one project together, it naturally creates more opportunities and spaces for the art works to be exhibited thereby increasing the different possibilities of grouping works within each particular venue. This format allows more space to be given to each video installation and that in turn offers audiences a comfortable environment to concentrate and appreciate works. The exhibition in Seoul was presented in six ‘chapters’ where approximately three artists were shown in each gallery, supporting audiences in a situation where they could give their full focus on a small number of works at a time. The uncluttered and calm use of the gallery spaces by the artists’ video installations enabled the viewers to pursue the art works with little disturbance from other works.

The short time spent travelling between venues gives the audience a thoughtful space to ponder upon the art works they have just viewed before they move to the next venue to see more. From this strategy, audiences will not only perceive the difference of the space between and within the art works, but also experience a sense of rational time through the promenade. All six venues, including Artsonje Center, are of a different spatial size and character, and has its own setting and its own condition that contributes to the rhythm and texture of the exhibition in Seoul.

Artsonje Centre hosted Jan Dibbets, Kimsooja and Joao Vãsco Paiva’s works under the theme of the conceptual horizon. The changing landscape through time and light was demonstrated in works from Giovanni Ozzola, Sim Cheol-Woong and Craig Walsh at the Opsis Art. At ONE AND J Gallery exhibited the works by Derek Kreckler, Barbara Campbell and Wang Peng showed the moving path of the space. Gallery SKAPE projected works by Lauren Brincat and Craig Walsh through their 2nd Floor street window at night. Lee Hwaik Gallery hosted works by Yeondoo Jung, Shilpa Gupta and Lauren Brincat. Gallery IHN exhibited the works from Paul Bai, Wang Gongxin and Heimo Zobernig. Paul Bai proposes a spiraling wind charm as an image to contemplate and reconcile. Wang Gongxin synchronises two wall projections and one monitor to construct a simulated ping-pong game in screen space. Heimo Zobernig use chroma-key post-production effects to introduce layers of spatial views and in turn highlighted the materiality of the medium in <Nr.23>.

Through the promenade, audiences can experience another space in our imagination – one that is constructed and connected through the images of the land, the sea and the sky within each video installation in the six different venues.

Sunjung Kim

Artistic Director of ACC Research & Archive in Asian Culture Center; Chief Curator of Art Sonje Center