New Shows to Be Held at Art Sonje Center

Ham Yang-ah’s “Chocolate Head” is part of the “Adjective Life in the Nonsense Factory” at Art Sonje Center, Hwa-dong, Jongno. / Courtesy of Samuso

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

Art Sonje Center is opening two shows by two Europe-based Korean artists, Ham Yang-ah and Jeuno JE Kim, on Saturday.

Ham, who has been working in the Netherlands since 2006, is presenting new works of chocolate sculptures, multimedia installations and videos at the exhibition ``Adjective Life in the Nonsense Factory'' on the second floor of the center.

Ham's pieces focus on the individuals in contemporary life, rooted in her deep-seated interest in ``the idea of the individual as the smallest and densest unit of life.''

``Chocolate Head'' is a series of head sculptures of famous curators around the world, while ``Out of Frame'' is a video installation that shows performances with the chocolate sculptures.

``Pole Installation as Individual in the Society'' is an interactive work that features a group of poles with video screens, speakers and microphones.

``Each pole represents one individual, showing the characters, emotions and grouped ideas by using diverse devices such as sound, video and objects. By installing a group of poles together, the artist also tries to reflect `individuality' and `universality of contemporaries' at the same time,'' organizers said in a statement.

Another interesting piece is ``Collected Anonymous 2006-2007,'' featuring a collection of elastic hair bands that Ham found in the streets of Amsterdam. She brought them back to Korea and conducted DNA tests, even though there was little way of finding out whom the hair bands belonged to.

``Our lives are normally defined with nouns or verbs. However, Ham discovers various `adjectives' through diverse aspects of life within a society. These adjectives in life represent individual identity as well as emotions, insecurity, fantasy, desire and frustration that occur in reality or relationships with others, leading us to reflect upon myself and further define ourselves,'' organizers said.

``Fog Dossier,'' which can be found on the third floor of the center, is an exhibition showing the results of a research project by Kim, who resides in Sweden, and Tokyo-based curator Kyongfa Che.

``The project thinks about our relation to history, whether it is to observe, escape or to be free from it, and different personal and public collections/archives that offer new points of departure,'' organizers said.

Included in the exhibition are three new works: a video ``The Collectors,'' a drawing installation ``The Collectors' Parade'' and ``Fog Research Dossier,'' a blueprint of the project with two books with images and text by the artist and curator.

The project probes certain figures, events and history, and uses discovered material to generate new historical information and perspective. Kim and Che focused on four historical figures ― Yanagi Soetsu (1889 -1961), William Morris (1834-1896), Isabella Lucy Bird (1831-1904) and Georg Eberhard Rumphius (1627-1702). These historical figures do not seem to have anything in common, except for the vast number of records and archival materials they left behind.

Their project operates between fiction and fact, generating art works that provoke unexpected responses. ``Each work, via narrative, collage and montage, is an attempt to collect relations and material, inserting in the historical layers personal experiences, so that it may become a part of a collective articulation that resists a monolithic take on history. In doing so, the project produces its own archive, a Fog Dossier,'' the organizers said.

A curator's talk about Kim's show will be held on Saturday at 2 p.m. Ham will lead an artist's talk on March 26 at 7 p.m., and a video screening March 25 and 26 at 5 p.m. For more information, e-mail artsonje_edu@hanmail.net.

Both exhibitions, curated by Samuso: Space for Contemporary Art, run until April 25 at Art Sonje Center, located in Hwa-dong, Jongno. Opening hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed on Mondays. Tickets are 3,000 won for adults and 1,500 won for students. Visit www.artsonje.org/asc or call (02) 733-8945.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr

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