No Space Between

The exhibition consists of 7 artists’ video, installation, and performance works about the divergence between contact and body which holds many implications. Ahn Eunme, instead of her performance based practice, presents her first  sound installation, which dances in-between spaces. The   (2018) is a sound installation created from a collection of stories about the wedding night of her mother’s generation. The ‘Gorshigee’ in the work offers a glimpse into the social atmosphere and ethical code surrounding physical contact, which was unmodern despite the strong wind of modernization. Kim Jimmmmmung’s (2018) and   (2018) questions the contradictions within the evaluation of the body that consumed by images of popular culture of the so-called idol fandom and otaku. Cho Hyun’s  is a 3D game which determines the ‘presence’ of individuals through social contact with others in a virtual reality space. In this game, ‘contact’ is an important yardstick which determines the loss and extension of life, in other words, the independent existence of the body. The performers in Oh Min’s  never acknowledge each other or come in contact to each other. They simply pursue their directions or take steps in accordance within the pre-arranged scores. The body expressed here is materiality itself which creates rhythms, images,a single rule and a system in a space. Park Karo takes a pseudoscientific approach to body and contact. The fake documentary about germs which proliferate when a contact is made, points to how the facts and belief systems impact the way we see the world. Yoo Sinae’s  deals with the question about the sense of digital hygiene, as a way for an  individual to characterize another individual in the digital age through the form of the body senses such as touch and vision. Chang Jia’s expresses the sense of fear and pleasure about contact and ownership through the saliva of the others produced by and between 6 performers who are wearing T-shirts with words ‘Freedom’, ‘Denial’, ‘Equality’, ‘Resistance’, ‘Independence’ and ‘Human’ printed each. These 6 words were extracted from Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As such, the works which display different temperatures and perspectives on body and contact touch upon the sensitive layer of senses we overlooked in the history of authenticity. Since the very beginning, art has been making multi-layered use of the human body’s senses. However, such senses were tolerated depending on the purpose and cause of different ages. Nevertheless, such an area was able to remain in the ranks of social justice and norms until this day precisely because the owner as well as the only witness of such senses, our very selves, our bodies always exist here and now.  

Mukbang*
Mukbang is short for ‘eating broadcast’, and it is a term newly coined and widely used in Korea since late 2000. Online programs in which hosts eat and interact with their audience at the same time became very popular, and the media and the entertainment industry adopted this form of broadcasting afterward.

Manner hands**
Manner hands refers to the gesture of men which tries to minimize physical contact with women in the Korean society.