SPACE June 2023 (No. 667)
Diagonal Thoughts, Now I Sit Me Down: Freeing Legs, Mixed media, Dimensions variable, 2023 / Image courtesy of Arts Council Korea
What is a space remembered for? In the exhibition ‘Memory·Space’ hosted by ARKO Art Center beginning on Apr. 14, memory is explained as a phenomenon that occupies the present and as a string that connects us to the future. ‘Memory·Space’ connects and communicates the memories that have accumulated in this multilayered space over the ARKO Art Center’s fifty years of existence. The exhibition crosses the threshold between the inside and outside of the ARKO Art Center, as well as the gap between the past and the present, which was made evident in a variety of spaces including an indoor exhibition, Archive Lounge, Project Space, and outdoor lobby. Seven participating artists, including Kim Bokyung and Diagonal Thoughts (principal, Kim Sara), explore the theme through various fields of expertise such as architecture, music, and projection. Slurry Wall (2023) by Hwang Wonhae and Transparent Walls of the Exhibition Hall are Dyed in Sienna Color (2023) by Moon Seunghyun (principal, Yellow Dot Company) foreground the view from the ARKO Art Center’s exterior and interior, capturing how the ARKO Art Center building responds to its wide range of users. Also on display in Project Space are Now I Sit Me Down: Freeing Legs (2023) and Logic Chair 1 (2023) by Diagonal Thoughts, which allow one to rediscover the act of occupying the space through physical movement such as ‘sitting’. The audience can interact with the displayed chair, and the specially manufactured chair allows the person sitting on it to be made more aware of the space, one that registers differently in the process of moving one’s body. The ordinary act of sitting reveals the space occupied and the sense of placeness that perhaps previously went unnoticed. Based on their personal experiences, the participating artists reflect and dwell upon the history of not only ARKO Art Center but also Dongsung-dong Daehak-ro and Marronnier Park. Their fragmented personal experiences are gathered and interwoven to explain a society of dynamic transformation. The exhibition is on display until July 23. (by Ryu Yeseung)
