SPACE September 2023 (No. 670)
Park Kiljong (covered in SPACE No. 652) has been expanding his practice into different activities, known by different names such as the Kiljong Arcade, Park Gagong, and Park Kiljong. He has built a virtual arcade and operated processing shop, office, management department, and photographic studio, as well as manufacturing furniture and supporting manpower for more than ten years. His work on the processing shop goes beyond the level of individuals and groups telling the stories of their institutions and companies, which served as an opportunity to highlight aspects unique to his designs amongst the diverse activities of the Kiljong Arcade. The exhibition ‘Summer Shade, Hugeoʼ, on show until Aug. 20 at the AVP Lab is meaningful in that it is the first solo exhibition held under the name of Park Kiljong. Here, he was left to explore and observe by Hyun Seewon (principal, AVP Lab), who recognised the excellence of Park Kiljong as a contemporary observer, prior to being a producer and planner. Walking into a building previously used as a church converted into an exhibition hall, one witnesses the scenes Park Kiljong encountered from spring to summer unfold. Summer Shade (2023), reinterpreting a plant sticking its head out through a sewer cover, reminds us of what lies beneath our feet while out walking on a summerʼs day, while a shade tower designed to adjust the amount of sunlight, Will a Gilded Tower Collapse? (2023) sheds light on the whimsical and ingenious notion of replacing a tool that blocks sunlight through furniture and space. The fifteen works only produced for the AVP Lab go further than the client request and are the result of the combination of Park Kiljongʼs observations and technology. Taking a ride on the Exhibition Walker (2023) and walking along the exhibition, you will face the traces of Park Kiljong. Sometimes as Kiljong Arcade, sometimes a Park Kiljong, and other times Park Gagong, his visionary world is still in progress.
by Kim Jia
Exhibition view of ‘Summer Shade, Hugeoʼ / Image courtesy of AVP Lab
