Occupying
Inflatable. Which makes invisible air // space // vacuumed space visible. It transforms a place into something recognizable. Inflatables take up space. Very light and transparent matters possesses a place. Taking up space. It is a very active and lively action.
We all try to have our own space. We all are struggling to have a place. We seek a place to work, sleep, and inhabit ourselves. We are actively engaged in a place, space, and environment. So, I want to make a provocative inflatable, letting us know our active gesture to possess a place for ourselves.
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SITE-SPECIFIC SPECULATIVE SCULPTURE ‘Occupying’ is a site-specific, speculative sculpture with inflatables that provoke a discussion on pressure and alienation in the battles to maintain our livelihood in A stack of translucent inflatables is designed to be implemented in front of a large corporate building in Seoul. The approximately 3m height inflatables will dance, reacting to the surroundings flowing back and forth. Each inflatable consists of several segments inspired by origami paper bowls. All segments are squished together and puffed up, and each layer of the balloons tries to get more places.
*Installation Drawing
*Installation View - Front
*Installation View - Back
They are merely diaphanous sheets before being filled with air; however, they take up space and expand to have more space. This movement is aggressive as it does not consider any relationship but taking over more space. Inflatables never yield. It is always toward the outside. I interpreted this as a vivacious and dynamic action. It is similar to humans struggling to have more space. People need space to live, work, carry on their everyday lives, and settle down..
Henri Lefebvre said space is a creation produced by one’s experience and life. Sometimes, people feel ditched in space and identify themselves as feeble creatures in the middle of a huge society. Having a certain position in modern society is stressful and maintaining status is challenging. Nothing is easily achieved, even though the repetitive routines be taken for granted. However, that’s what makes having space a constant movement and active action toward the world. *Henri, Lefebvre. The production of space, Blackwell publishing, 2007
*Digital demonstration of a bowl shape inflatble - deflated ------- inflated
What does ‘Occupying a space’ mean?
*Digital demonstration of the installation - disparity of volume
I explored bowl shapes inflatables, which consist of several different segments. The thing that intrigues me is that each segment tries to have more places by itself. Each part of the inflatable is blown up and occupies its own space, as we all do in our lives. As I cast the inflatables, my interest is geared more towards the disparity between the volume of deflated status and inflated status.
With bioplastic, I tried to capture the area of the surface and made the moulds and casts.
Thereby, I decided to put this inflatable object into an enervated place. For me, it is an office place, especially in South Korea, which is very competitive but inhumane. I chose a large and notable office building in Seoul, where I worked previously. It was always eerie to be in a huge build-
These speculative inflatables are meant to be at the middle of a pathway, between the gateway. It is an obstacle but a provocation at the same time. People need to avoid the installation to get into the building. It is light and translucent inflatables, but it is still actively engaged in the environment, and it has the power to interact with people. I hope people passing by the inflatables feel their movement as a very active and subjective action by experiencing inflatables choreography and engagement.
*Inflatables in the hallway in my flat