KIMSOOJA Respirar- Una mujer espejo

KIMSOOJA
Respirar- Una mujer espejo
To breathe - A mirror woman
Palacio
Cristal,
Date:
April 27 to July 24, 2006
Location:
Palacio de Cristal. Parque del Retiro. Madrid
Organization:
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.
Exhibit Curator: Oliva María Rubio
Coordinator:
Mónica Carballas and Rafael García
de
Kimsooja (b. Taegu, Korea,1957) is a world-renowned artist, currently living in
New York. Her work has been exhibited throughout Asia, America and Europe,
and her practice includes installations, photographs, performances and videos.
Her subject matter ranges from nomadism, the relationship between self and the
other, and addressing the role of women and the human being in the chaotic
world in which we live .
Kimsooja uses minimal elements: a translucent diffraction film that covers the
vault, the entire glass structure of the palace, a mirror that covers the floor,
combined with the sound of the artists' breathing in the soundtrack The Weaving
Factory, 2004. She brings the audience into a transforming experience and
invites them to experiment with their minds, mobilizing senses, awareness, and
imagination into focus. Kimsooja composed To Breathe - A Mirror Woman
specifically for the space configuration of the Palacio de Cristal in Madrid. The
artist incorporates the architectural structure of the building into the mirrors on the
floor, to expand and unite space.
Outside light filters through the glass of the pavilion and reflects off the diffraction
film. It diffuses into rainbow spectrums, transforming the external panorama seen
from within the palace. The resulting effect is that the entire structure as well as
the rays of colour reflecting off the mirrored floor. Natural light, colour, and sound
are all ethereal elements within the empty space. The artist’s breathing from the
performance, The Weaving Factory, bounces off the mirrors and fills the entire
building to intermix with it, breaking down barriers of inside and outside, self and
other, and reality and fantasy.
In the first part of the performance, her breathing is gentle, slow, and barely
perceptible; but gradually it becomes deeper and faster, acquiring a dizzying
rhythm, that conveys discomfort and even anguish. Several emotional states are
perceptible through her breathing, which becomes one with her artistic work. In
the second, one can barely notice the breathing, which becomes part of the
background. The tone, modulation and rhythms have changed. From rebellion
to joy, anguish to enjoyment, doubt to certainty; all are states the viewer
perceives through the exhibit. Kimsooja invites the audience to travel within the
space, within their own breathing - in other words, within themselves. It is during
this journey that the audience finally faces the other, always present in her work,
as the mirror connects and reflects the other in all of us. The mirror breathes,
attracts and reflects, and that reflection is the medium for introspection. Kimsooja
invites the audience to the experience of their own body within this space, and
leads the viewer to encounter dimensions of body, mind, senses and imagination.
Her videos, including her performances and her video installations with sound, as
well as her installations with clothing, create a meditative isolation as a space of
sanctuary. Kimsooja’s work is engulfed by the audiences' participation in silence
and concentration. It is an invitation to escape the chaos and surrounding worldly
noise for a moment, and thereby re-discover ourselves and question our
relationship with others; to contemplate our place in the world, and face the
essential boundaries of our own existence.
www.kimsooja.com