DECAPOD - a review by Rachel Kennedy

DECAPOD invigilator Rachel Kennedy has submitted a review of the exhibition work that resonated with her most - Hwi-Gyoung by Korean artist Juree Kim.

“Hwi-Gyoung" is one of the artworks exhibited in AirSpace Gallery’s group exhibition, ‘DECAPOD’, celebrating the 10 years the gallery has been running.

This particular work is an exploration of material, the material that makes a structure, the built environment and its breakdown. The work is presented as a stop-frame animation. 

For me this is one of the main pieces that came to light. Its place in the exhibition, behind a curtain, in a dark room, and its lack of sound, creates a particular interaction between the audience and the film.  You have to stand to watch the film. The space is dark and you are on your own. The feeling is quite theatrical.  I feel compelled when placed into a dark room to be quiet and watch something, in silence. The connection between the viewer and the film is a silent and eerie experience.

I notice the sense of disappearance in the work -the act of someone or something ceasing to be visible. The way in which the clay is becoming a liquid again, taken back to the original form.

Juree Kim says - “This natural substance is the destroyer yet at the same time life is incorporated in the process of disappearance.’

In this quote, I find the contrast between the materials and the substance formed. Further reading  expands on the disappearance in the urban features in Korea in mainly the 1970’s and 1980’s. The success of this work for me is to explain and present the loss in a calm and collected way.