SPACE May 2023 (No. 666)
Exhibition view of ‘Transformertower Longings’ / Image courtesy of factory2
Exhibition view of ‘Transformertower Longings’ / Image courtesy of factory2
The anxiety that comes with leaving home is temporary, but when one’s sense of home or their environment vanishes from recollection, the anxiety goes much deeper. What does this mean for our modern world, in which space is constantly in flux, being connected and disconnected? The exhibition by Danish artist duo Randi & Katrine, on show at factory2 from Mar. 23 to Apr. 23, raises this question. Since 2004, Randi & Katrine have been anthropomorphising spatial concepts and the relationships between people, architecture, and nature across various fields such as sculpture, installation, and public art. Representative works include tower man (2013), which is the first impression of Seoul as both a tower and a person, and the publication House in Your Head (2009), which collates impressions of houses in the form of faces. The exhibition consists of Transformer Tower H189A (2022) – a wearable sculpture of a transformer tower that once served as the backbone to Denmark’s industrialisation programme, but is now disconnected and ghostly – along with its blueprints and a video of a wayward performer walking around Seoul. By wearing the tower on the body, it becomes one with us in the ever-changing megalopolis of Seoul, penetrating the city through this performance and offering a new perspective on the cityscape. The structure is made manifest as a person, and it becomes a process of searching for connection once again. Through these performances, Randi & Katrine question the concept of public art as represented by giant sculptures. Public art is not only about permanent, disconnected artworks, but also about sustainable performances that live and breathe in open spaces. Transforming Tower, which travels through the city centre of Korea, provides an opportunity to rethink the city we live in and the art we live with. by Kang Youngwoo
