We live in time. Birth and death, encounter and separation, sorrow and joyance, anger and loving, these series of events that you call life, all happening in time. Just close eyes and feel the passage of time. Divide the time between meeting and parting, and count the time when sorrow rises and disappears. The time of life to yesterday and today, the day and night with inhalation and exhalation again. The moment when all the cells that make up the body are divided with the rhythm of each pulse. Compare the before and after as I stop the time of such a short unit which can think by moving the consciousness to the microscopic world and compare the still image in the movie. In a world of waves and particles that have no meaning or definition, as in the universe at the beginning, time appears only as a change in the input of energy that follows the direction of entropy. The moment we store and list those changes as memories and give them meaning, the heart starts to beat again, the feeling heats up, and you and I meet and love each other.
This tells us that time is essentially a form of interaction with the world, created by the human brain. This gives me an identity, but at the same time, It confesses that the world is meaningless. The tower built of sand collapses, and the beautiful white snow melts away as soon as it is held in the hand.
Time may be like a mirage that disappears at the moment when it is outside the human layers. Nevertheless, humans endlessly create meanings and continue life.One warm spring day, I seem to have had a dream at the window for a very short time. Or maybe I fell asleep watching the stars pour out one summer night. Going back and forth between the boundaries of meaning and the meaningless, in a world of time that will one day be dispersed by shards of light, I dream of eternal time with you.
In contemporary art, the exhibition space is unlike the one that was unified into white cubes in the past, which is called white-cube . It is not uniform but diverse. Of course, the spaces with white walls still exist. However, some of the spaces are made up of black spaces that don't allow even the slightest light as if they're in a movie theater, and some spaces are covered with various colors of walls, or some spaces expose bare cement walls without any finishing touches. However, these different spaces do not mean that the purposes are different. They all agree that it is a space designed for artworks. Recently, however, the situation has further expanded to include places that people can't think of as being displayed, such as streets, closed down factories, unoccupied houses, protest sites, or even forests or beaches. In this case, the situation is slightly different from the previous example of space, because it is a space where different purposes take precedence over artworks. That's why the works in these places often interfere with each other, with no help from the spaces.
Son, Mong-Joo¡¯s exhibition ¡¶Young-island Swing¡· took place in this kind of place. Located on Yeong-do(island) Marine Road, where you can see Busan Port, 'Complex Cultural Space GGTI' was a factory that used to manufacture ship generators and used as a logistics warehouse after it was closed down, and now various cultural events such as parties and performances are taking place. Although the gallery is named as a cultural space, it is hard to think of it as an exhibition space because it retains its original rough appearance, such as rough concrete walls, various ship items piled up in, and lockers left on one side. Moreover, the sound of hammering and welding around the ship, and the harsh breathing of the engineers working there, are not only transmitted entirely through the space, but also the sound of ships entering and leaving the harbor and even the cry of seagulls in the exhibition hall, making it difficult for the audiences to entirely concentrate on the work. Furthermore, the magnificent view of the sea-facing the space makes viewers stay in the landscape, not the work, making it challenging to display artworks other than performances or cultural events. As I mentioned earlier, this space also interrupts the appreciation of works. However, the problem is not that simple in the case of this exhibition of Son, Mong-Joo.
Son, Mong-Joo presented two major works at the exhibition. One is < Young-island Swing>(2019), a giant fluorescent-green installation which is 7 meters wide and 6 meters high, and the other is < floating sculptures>(2019) with small objects placed on a six-meter-wide, two-stage pedestal. First of all, let's talk about < Young-island Swing>, which overwhelms the viewers on a grand scale. The installation, which covers a net dyed in light green with a structure reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe, gives viewers a different look and feel in a vast, grand size, which is distinctly different from their surroundings, leading viewers to a work instead of the surroundings. Moreover, in the middle of the piece, if you think it's a giant door, there's a swing in what you think is a passageway, so that you can ride it. The swing does not indicate the front of the work, but if you sit in a chair and swing unconsciously, you naturally look at the sea. Instead of covering the surroundings to focus on the artwork, it encourages us to look at the scenery. When you swing and look at the sea, you take in the various noises around you as an element of the artwork. As such, Son, Mong-Joo is embracing the place as part of the work by drawing it into the work.
It is not the first time Son, Mong-Joo has used such an exhibition space and place as part of the work. Son, Mong-Joo¡¯s tendency comes from 2007 when she started working in earnest after returning from studying abroad in the U.K. Son, Mong-Joo was elected to the "Alternative Space Bandi Contest" in the year she returned to Korea and had a solo exhibition, ¡¶Come in !¡·(2007) during which she actively used the characteristics of the alternative space Bandi, which used the old bathhouse as an exhibition space, to divide the space with white rubber bands and showcase works that cross all over the place. As the artist prepared for the exhibition, she said, "Unless it is a simple plain-patterned place, I feel that the history or background information of the place is essential if it contains a particular design or element.¡±(from the artist note, 2007) Later, Son, Mong-Joo was invited to the 2008 Busan Biennale Special Exhibition, where she used a closed down gym locker room in a swimming pool and showed the black band installation ¡¶The animals were gone¡·. In 2010, she entered Gamcheon Culture Village in Saha-gu and built a house with a ringed inside an abandoned house ¡¶The black house¡·. The next year, she showed ¡¶Happy project¡· which covered the entire unoccupied house with yellow streamline wires in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, and in 2013, presented ¡¶Expanding space¡· which crossed an empty commercial space in Donrae-gu Myungryundong with white rubber band. Son, Mong-Joo has been actively used not only the characteristics of the spaces, but also the narratives of the places as the elements of the works.
Son, Mong-Joo has continued to work on site-specific art , so it is not easy to find some unity in this regard, as the contents of the work vary slightly depending on the space and location where the work is placed. However, recently, Son, Mong-Joo had held a series of exhibitions over a series of themes. Drifting is one of them. In relation to this theme, an exhibition was held at the Hongti Art Center ¡¶Drifting road¡· in 2014 is noticeable. During the exhibition, the artist used white rubber bands to attach seven huge drifting trees, each length one to four meters floating on the beach in Dadaepo, to create an image that seemed to naturally descend from the ceiling to the floor, and delivered the title literally ¡®Drifting itself¡¯ visually and effectively connecting to the title ¡¶Drifting road¡·. Why was it " Drifting road " rather than "drifting"? The clue to this is in the artist¡¯s note. The artist said, ¡°Drifting means floating on the water and drifting away. It is also drifting to lose any purpose or direction and wander about, regardless of will¡¦. The road to drifting is not dragged away with the will and strength but is enriched in a series of repeated pull and push as a compromise that leaves the body alone," (from the artist note, 2014). The note was interesting, in that it implied such masochistic identity as unconsciously being dragged from place to place, but rather throwing oneself into the flow with a certain will. Also, so is it because it seems to recommend that we go toward drift, not stop this drift. Like the drifting trees that Son, Mong-Joo suddenly noticed, things that are not fixed seem incomplete, powerless, and weak in themselves. However, it is also the only source of anxiety that can threaten the solid things that surround us. That's why a lot of people, including recent academics, are excited about Diaspora and Nomad , dreaming of a change in this solid world where no longer can find an exit.
Let's return to this exhibition, ¡¶Young-island Swing¡·. Sitting in the middle of the space at Young- island Swing, you can see that the scenery before you is not a special ocean view. As the viewer's gaze shifts from the whole to the parts, he or she becomes aware of floats, such as boats and buoys, that float on the sea. Visitors sitting there swinging their swings automatically feel like they are identified with such floats. Looking at the vast structure surrounding the audience, they notice that the buoys, trees from the sea, boats fill in the vast green netting tightly. The objects behind this , also bear witness to this. In an interview with the Busan Ilbo over the exhibition, Son, Mong-Joo said, "It is a confrontation, resistance, and adaptation to living as a floating matter." Isn't this huge floating structure and the small objects that are formally neatly placed on the pedestal a kind of monument that Son, Mong-Joo presents to those who wander aimlessly? A monument encouraging people to continue to drift.
2010 Master of Inter Media Art. Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
2008 Bachelor of Inter Media Art. Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
2019 Peer review, 3F, Busan
2018 Quantization, Kim's Art Field Museum, Busan
2019 Dialogue in Art, LEE & BAE, Busan, Korea
2019 7189 Methuselah, Geumjeong Cultural Center, Busan, Korea
2019 Duality of light, Seodong Art Creation Space, Busan, Korea
2019 International Symposium on Creative Art Education, F1963 Suckcheon Hall lobby, Busan, Korea
2019 Time to stroll, Choryang Mt.Gubong, Busan, Korea
2019 Tsushima ART FANTASIA 2019, Tsushima, Japan, Korea
2019 BUSAN It exists now as it was then, F1963 Suckcheon Hall, Busan, Korea
2018 go up and down, ilmac Cultural Foundation, Busan, Korea
2018 Tsushima ART FANTASIA 2018, Tsushima, Japan
2018 The Body, CICA Museum, Gimpo, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
2017 GAM YEO GA, Space DOT, Busan, Korea
2017 Tsushima ART FANTASIA 2017, Tsushima, Japan
2017 CELL - Low, High, and Narrow Room, Gallery Guruji, Seoul, Korea
2017 Island, Former Bank of Japan Hiroshima, Japan
2016 Tsushima ART FANTASIA 2016, Tsushima, Japan
2010 Tokyo University of the Arts Inter Media Art Graduation Works, BankArtNYK, Kanagawa, Japan
2009 WIP, Tokyo University of Arts, Japan
2008 PRIZE 2008, Tokyo University of Arts, Japan
2008 Project the projectors 2008, BankArtNYK, Kanagawa, Japan
2007 Kiryu Saien 13, Gunma, Japan
2006 Nine days' Wonder blue Sky Museum!!, Ibaraki, Japan
2005 Demarcación,veracruzana, Mexico
Project
2019 Flag Project DAEPUNPO, Busan, Korea
2018 Yeongdo Ferry Restoration Project, Busan, Korea
2017 Choryang 1925 Old Downtown Project, Busan, Korea
Residency
2016~19 Tsushima ART FANTASIA, Tsushima, Japan
Award & Grant
2019 National Endowment Fund for Culture and the Arts, Arts Council Korea, Korea
2018 Kim's Art Field Museum - Artist of the Day, Busan, Korea
2008 Purchase Prize, Tokyo University of the Arts Tokyo University Art Museum, Japan
Collection
Tokyo University of the Arts Tokyo University Art Museum , KANGKANGEE Arts Villag
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2006 Master of Fine Art Chelsea college of Art and Design in London
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2001 ºÎ»ê´ëÇб³ ¹Ì¼úÇаú Á¶¼ÒÀü°ø Á¹¾÷
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2015 ºÎ»ê¹®ÈÀç´Ü ȫƼ¾ÆÆ®¼¾ÅÍ 1,2±â ÀÔÁÖÀÛ°¡
2010 ¾Æ¸£ÄÚ Time & Space ³ë¸¶µñ ¾ÆÆ® ·¹Áö´ø½Ã, ¸ù°ñ ´Þ¶õÀÚ°¡µå¹Ì¼ú°ü/ °íºñ»ç¸·
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Mong-Joo Son
Born in 1978, Busan, Korea
2016 Ph.D Pusan National University in South Korea
2006 MA Chelsea college of Art and Design in London, UK
2004 MAFA Pusan National University (Sculpture)
2001 BAFA Pusan National University (Sculpture)
2019 ¡® Young island swing¡¯ sculpture project, Busan, Korea
And the other 11 solo exhibitions
2019 Dialogue in Art, LEE & BAE, Busan, Korea
2018 ¡®POST88¡¯ SOMA , Seoul, Korea
2018 ¡®Gangjung art festival¡¯, Daegu, Korea
2018 ¡®Over rapping¡¯ Terarosa museum, Gangreong, Korea
2016 ¡®Wave groove¡¯ Busan art museum, Busan, Korea
2015 ¡®Sublime Masochism¡¯ Moa, Seoul national University, Seoul, Korea
2014 ¡®Artfantasia¡¯ Tosuikan Tsushima , Japan
2014 ¡®Moving Triennale made in Busan, Busan, Korea
2013 ¡®Gyeonggicreation center¡¯ , Ansan, Korea
2013 ¡®Gyeonggi Art Museum¡¯ , Ansan, Korea
2013 ¡®Busan Sea Art Festival¡¯ Song-do beach, Busan, Korea
2012 ¡®Kunstverein Hamburg¡¯, Hamburg, Germany
2012 'Doing' Kumho Museum, Seoul, Korea
2011 ¡®Happy Project¡¯ Ministry of culture , sports and tourism, YoungChun, , Korea
2010 ¡®Time & Space¡¯ ¡¸Nomadic Arts Residency, Jeju museum of Contemporary Art, Jeju, Korea
2010 ¡®SMART¡¯ Gyeong Nam Art Museum, Changwon, Korea
2010 ¡®Time & Space¡¯ Nomadic arts regidency, Red ger gallery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2010 ¡®The penguin that goes to the mountain¡® Nam jun paik center, Yongin, Korea
2010 ¡®Hyun-Dai motor¡¯ Sonata launching show, Grand inter-continental hotel/Seoul, Korea
2009 ¡®Pumping Heart ¡¯ New Form¡¯ , MK2 Gallery, Beijing ,China
2008 ¡®Open studio of Bastil¡¯ show, France
2008 ¡®Seoul living design fair¡¯ BANG & OLUFSEN, COEX, Seoul, Korea
2007 ¡®ASIA ART FESTIVAL¡¯ Sungsan art hall, Changwon, Korea
Biennale
2018 ¡®2018Gwangju Biennale¡¯ Gwangju, Korea
2015 ¡®Chungju international Craft Biennale¡¯, Chungju, Korea
2008 ¡®Busan Biennale¡¯ Sea Art Festival, Me world, Busan ,Korea
Residency
2015 ¡®Hongti Art Center¡¯ regidency, Busan
2010 ¡®Time & Space¡¯ Nomadic arts regidency,
Ministry of culture , sports and tourism, Ulaanbaatar
2010 ¡®Time & Space¡¯ Nomadic Arts Residency,
Ministry of culture , sports and tourism, Jeju museum of Contemporary Art
Re Floating_Rubber band, floating things_1800x130x400cm installation_2020