2008.12.31
 |
Installation artist Yang Haegue has been chosen to hold a solo presentation in the Korean Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale in Italy.
"Yang is one of the most significant Korean artists performing now," said Joo Eungie, the pavilion commissioner, at the press conference last week at Arts Council Korea. "This is her moment. Through this Venice Biennale, she can get attention and so can Korean contemporary art."
A new commissioner is designated every year for the Korean Pavilion by Arts Council Korea, and the commissioner selects an artist or a group of artists to present in the Biennale.
Graduating from Seoul National University Fine Arts College, Yang has been showcasing her work more internationally - splitting her time here and in Germany. German newspaper Capital included her as one of the top 100 international installation artists, along with compatriot Lee Bul.
Yang uses sculpture, video and installation to express her sentiments about humanity, history and her private memories.
"I think the similarity between an artist and a philosopher is that they both try to realize something that already exists," said Yang at the press conference. "I simply try to express them with my artistic words."
She has not decided what to exhibit at the Biennale yet, but her former work gives us a few hints.
 |
Electric machines frequently appear in her work. "Asymmetric Equality" which was exhibited in Gallery at REDCAT in Los Angeles last summer, featured theatrical lights connected to sensors on a drum set. If one drummed on the set, different blazing lights moved as an echo of the sound.
An infrared heater warmed the air in her exhibition room from one corner and an air conditioner cooled it from another side. Humidifiers made the space moist.
"It made viewers confront their opposite senses," Joo said.
Similar substances filled the room in "A Series of Vulnerable Arrangements," which Yang displayed in Sao Paulo Biennale in 2006.
For those who have followed Yang's career, "vulnerable" is the word that usually pops up. Yang has used the word very often since 2004 to express sadness, loneliness and melancholy.
"The stronger and more impressive I found my surroundings, the weaker my heart became," said Yang. "Then this melancholic vulnerability seemed to open small passages where different beings and elements can newly be connected through."
Yang defines her works as "sentimental communities mobilized by senses." Sounds complicated? Yang herself admits that her works are indescribable.
"My works are hard to imagine if you don't actually experience it. You need to breathe it, feel it, and see it using all your senses. You have to be covered from top to toe by the shades and lights of my work to really get it," said Yang.
Unfortunately, viewers will not be able to see Yang's usual use of dramatic lights at Venice because the pavilion there is very bright.
"We are eagerly discussing what to do. Everything I do from now will be melded in it. I can dare say that I am up to taking on this big responsibility. I really want to do my best," said Yang.
Venice Biennale will run from June 22 to Nov. 22.
By Park Min-young
(claire@heraldm.com)
댓글 없음:
댓글 쓰기