Kim Eunseol, 《Glue Play》, work in progress © Rund Gallery

[Artist’s Note by Kim Eunseol]

“Glue-thread play is a childhood activity where glue stick or liquid glue is applied to the fingers, and as the fingers are pressed and pulled apart, sticky strands are formed—thin like spider webs, strong yet fragile, and capable of scattering in the air. Although there is no established term for it, I call it ‘glue-thread play.’”

I observe people around me exchanging invisible glue-thread play and collect these scenes through black drawing. Subtle expressions, actions, and distances that people unconsciously reveal are presented through glue-thread play that is transparent yet not transparent. Black drawing is not literally black; it is a drawing practice that does not restrict color but records hidden aspects of people and the afterimages of unconscious memory across flat surfaces, installations, and video.

As both a participant and an observer, I watch the invisible exchanges of glue-thread play between people, and like the act of attaching and detaching, I repetitively draw thin lines with a pencil to endlessly fill the surface, expanding into an obsessive form of glue-thread play. In this way, I have continuously developed black drawing.


Installation view of 《Glue Play》 (Rund Gallery, 2019) © Rund Gallery

In this exhibition, I constructed a large-scale glue-thread play within the small 1.5-pyeong space of Rund Gallery. When engaging in glue-thread play, the more threads are created, the stronger the stickiness becomes, making it difficult to separate. Conversely, when the stickiness is weak, the threads break easily. This reflects how much effort people invest in exchanging invisible glue-thread play.

Even though the repetition of glue-thread play becomes exhausting, it continues. This delicate and fragile glue-thread play accumulates into something that is both transparent and not transparent. Perhaps, during this process, one may have been trying to comfort and hold onto oneself. Through drawing, video, and installation, I aim to present glue-thread play.

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