The weight of ideology in Kira Kim’s art / Bansie Vasvani

The weight of ideology in Kira Kim’s art

 

Bansie Vasvani(Critic_ISCP)

 

Current discussion on increasing art activism is centered on its ability to function as an arena and medium for political protest and social change. Activist driven Kira’s Kim’s focus fits squarely into this realm of artists in Asia and the west making art for the purposes of social commentary and raising awareness. Through a series of performative images, drawings, and sculpture Kim examines how rapid modernization in Korea after suffering from the anxiety of wars and changes in ideology from communism to socialism, democracy, and capitalism, has resulted in a consumer driven society that is at odds with personal happiness and contentment. Kim uses visual art to probe that sense of uneasiness and spiritual lacuna that individuals express in private.

 

A Weight of Ideology_The Last leaf

HD video and sound, 34mins 13secs, 2014

 

ON/NO_both sides of antagonism

colouring and urethane coating on wooden sculpture, 240×240×240 cm, 2014

 

In a large word sculpture seen in a recent exhibition in Seoul titled A Weight of Ideology_The Last Leaf, a play on the words ON/NO_both sides of antagonism, 2014, serves as both a reminder and reprimander of social and consumer excess. In response to his larger questions about “Do we humans have any good,” and “How do we see our society and art?” Kim’s pithy use of signage addresses serious social issues while exploring the power of abstraction and language. Stemming from a deep-seated desire to urge people to reflect on their individual attitudes and actions that point away from personal power, self aggrandizement, and greed, the work, much like his earlier neon lighting from 2008 that read “I LOVE U,” “HELP WHO IS FREE TO CHANGE,” and “YOU ARE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BRAND IN CAPITALIST SOCIETY,” provokes strong rational and emotional responses. Kim’s solemn and satirical signage points towards a pressing need for people to confront their inner inertia, and address a cumulative societal plague.

 

A Weight of Ideology_The letters to North_Let me know How are you?_On the Yellow Sea

HD single channel video with mini mac player and sound speaker, 10mins, 2013

 

 

Through a series of simplistic and accessible performances, the artist raises important questions especially regarding the North-South division in Korea. Titled A Weight of Ideology_The Letters to North_Let me know how you are? On the Yellow Sea, 2013, the “Blind Letter,” addressed to a nameless compatriot in Pyongyang, North Korea, is placed in a sealed bottle and thrown into the currents of the ocean. The earthy, heartfelt, and humane tone of the letter about savoring Naengmyeon, a staple Korean dish of noodles, common to people from both regions that share the same culture and language reveals the capriciousness of politics, and the resulting tension and heartbreak suffered by many individuals who are arbitrarily separated by a war, ideology, and border.

The significance of ideology comes to bare in The Weight of Ideology_Without Breath, 2014, performances. Deep philosophical differences between people that could refer to the North-South division, and the spiritual paralysis of capitalism in South Korea are symbolically played out through a series of vignettes. Two individuals tug at different colored strings, while another scenario depicts two blindfolded people tentatively feeling their way around, and a third cameo showcases one individual administering CPR to the other. Meant to enact power struggles, ideological blindness, and the stultifying effect of indifference and lack of societal interaction, Kim’s works are geared to invoke the power of resistance. These basic gestures of strife represent concealed human conflicts that must surface and be addressed. The performances reflect the intention of activists who want to change stressful conditions by means of art—not so much inside the art system but outside it, in reality itself.

Drawings for A Weight of Ideology

oil on Korean paper, dimensions variable, 2013-2014

 

Kim’s role as a naysayer and protester can be ascertained from his Drawings for A Weight of Ideology, 2013. A slew of brightly colored amorphous shapes strike out in a new direction expressing ambivalence towards anything conventional or objective. Bulbous protrusions and tubular organic forms akin to botanical specimens suggest vegetation, growth, and vitality. Other contours resembling body parts and organs point to areas of the anatomy that must be revitalized. These professedly odd drawings are Kim’s personal visual signs that seem like transactions between the sensuous and the spiritual. His festive color palette of yellows and oranges conspire to prod people on. Befitting the surreal world of Andre Breton, Kim’s imaginative forms much like Joan Miro’s are but tokens of real things that are embedded in his own private mythology.

 

《Common Good_Climb Every Mountain!》

Mar 01, 2012 ~ Mar 29, 2012, DOOSAN Gallery Seoul

 

 

The artist’s decidedly anti-aesthetic stance gains grist with his Spectators_Monsters collages from his exhibition 《Common Good_Climb Every Mountain!》 2012. Kim makes compilations combined from different sacred figures derived from over 500 books he collected. Religious images from Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and Christianity coalesce in his creation of strange amalgamations that he refers to as Monsters. Eclectic body parts comprising of multiple heads and arms from Hindu gods, the leg of a cow, the torso of a biblical figure, Buddhist statues, a goat, staves, exquisite jewelry, and ancient temples are combined in myriad ingenious ways to create foreboding creatures that convey a deep unsettling meaning. These ominous figures might be interpreted as a riff on man’s creation of religious icons that are blindly worshipped to ward off the unknown. Yet, ironically each Monster’s alarming appearance can also be seen as a reflection of our own inner state of being.

《Super Mega Factory》

Sep 19, 2009 - Oct 18, 2009, KUKJE Gallery

 

Kim’s process of upending the status quo is apparent from a series of primitive wooden sculptures in his exhibition 《Super Mega Factory》, 2009. Frightful antediluvian heads reminiscent of prehistoric African masks and totems painted in bright exuberant colors transport us to a different era and place. By subverting the very idea of the aesthetic object, and by framing and reframing the seemingly invisible through his drawings, collages, and sculptures, Kim creates an obscure hidden space of mystery that suggests the possibility of resurrection.

As an activist dedicated to political change, Kim’s purview works towards a horizon of successful political action with a revolutionary perspective. His performances signal a neglect of the environment and play an important role in encouraging public discussion through the interaction of a wider audience with artists. Critical knowledge production, regardless of its performative or informative medium, is an integral part of his activist practice. The ultimate triumph for Kim will come when viewers, propelled by his emancipatory techniques, will realize the outward appearance of society and begin to question how they engage.