김세진, 〈나잇 와치 Night Watch〉, 2006, 3채널 비디오, 03:20 ©김세진

In Sejin Kim’s exhibition Liquid City, the notions of time and space are metaphorically used to convey a sense of anxiety about the social structures experienced through different modes of urban survival.

The cityscapes shown in her videos present the material city constructed by the massive desire named capital, and the lived environment of those within it. Through cinematic devices, the exhibition invites us to reconsider the illusions of the present, exposing how power, capital, and class—and the violence they generate—operate upon individuals navigating the urban space.

The work reminds us of the latent violence common to all urban societies, a force the artist has perceived across cities of vastly different characteristics. Within such spaces, the city’s desire manifests through abstract institutional systems that neglect the lives of individuals.

Kim also raises the question: despite the diverse historical and environmental contexts that ought to shape unique social systems in each country and city, are we not witnessing all cities rush toward the same dystopia under the name of globalization?

Having experienced these phenomena firsthand, the artist takes a critical stance through the practical act of art-making. The divided composition of the screen continuously shifts the viewer’s flow of consciousness. Through the repetition and replay of this ever-changing screen, the work subverts habitual modes of thought and attempts to generate new reflections.

This exhibition does not offer answers, but rather poses a question:
Can we envision a free city—a liquid city—that resists the violence of capitalism masked as universal identity?

A city that defies fixed customs, traits, or forms, and instead remains undefined and fluid?

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