SPACE November 2023 (No. 672)
Installation view of 8, Itaewon-ro 54-gil, Yongsan-gu, 9-3, Chungjeong-ro 4-gil, Seodaemun-gu, 34-16, Dongsomun-ro 10-gil, Seongbuk-gu ©Park Jiyoun
The exhibition ‘Artistic Life: Dear. H’ began with a single phrase from a book of the same title by Kim Eok, a poet and critic: ‘The ultimate purpose of life lies where it becomes artistic.’ The exhibition focuses on alternative spaces, in which spaces such as those in homes, factories, and churches have been renovated for artistic activities. Alternative spaces that deviate from the typical white cube have been a place for experimentation and the pursuit of various arts since the 1990s. The eight participating artists, Kim Hyoyoung (principal, KHYarchitects), Hwang Dongwook, Lee Chunghyung, Kim Eunhyung, Gupgi, Park Goeun, Park Sohee, and Shin Jehyun, captured and reinterpreted various ideas about the power of alternative space through the framework of ‘space’. Kim Hyoyoung critically pointed out that alternative spaces did nothing special architecturally and expressed this through ‘actual measurements’ and ‘drawings’. Drawings that map out the 3D space in a 2D format shows the same space but in a different method of expression. 8, Itaewon-ro 54-gil, Yongsan-gu, 9-3, Chungjeong-ro 4-gil, Seodaemun-gu, 34-16, Dongsomun-ro 10-gil, Seongbuk-gu are all drawings combining the horizontal and cross sections of the alternative spaces located at each address. They make the audience look at space through the medium of drawings. Hwang Dongwook focused on the adaptation and transformation that occurs when spaces for various purposes are converted into exhibition spaces. Through Ad hoc, where a 3D scanning sculpture was installed on a temporary wall, he expressed the characteristics of an alternative space which neither accepts the existing space as is nor creates a completely new space. Lee Chunghyung points out that up until now exhibitions have focused on visual aspects and presented an installation that challenges this, White Noise, why only see without caring to listen?, a white light box which is programmed to flash in connection with noise. The exhibition was held at TINC until Oct. 15.
