Minae Kim, Black, Pink Balls, 2014, PVC tent, steel frame, lightings, moving lights, outdoor chair, wrap, past works, installation equipment, 1350×920×350cm ©DOOSAN Gallery

According to the exhibition guide, 《Black, Pink Balls》 is connected to Minae Kim’s previous solo exhibition 《Thoughts on Habit》 from last year. In that exhibition, Kim installed a fence inside the gallery at a 14-degree angle from the wall, restricting the movement of visitors. She also presented a translated version of Yoon Dongju’s poem Self-Portrait, reflecting on her life as an artist. However, just hours before the exhibition opened, Kim placed three black balloons and one pink balloon between the fence and the wall. She later mentioned feeling stifled by her own methodical approach of producing and installing works according to a predetermined plan, assigning meaning to every element. If there is tension, there must also be release. The light, soft, and incidental balloons ended up becoming the title of this exhibition.

Doosan Gallery exhibition space is rectangular. Kim constructed a room within it using opaque fabric walls, creating another rectangular space inside the existing one and forming a square-shaped corridor. Visitors walking through the corridor see silhouettes of objects projected onto the translucent walls, as well as two moving pink circles. As they continue along the corridor and reach the third corner, they encounter a door. Peering through the door’s narrow opening, they find a collection of the artist’s past works—pieces she has made since her university days—scattered without any particular role or function, devoid of site specificity. The silhouettes seen earlier belong to these past works, and the pink circles are created by the lighting. Alongside them are a ladder used during installation and a bundle of packaging materials rolled up like a ball.

Installation view of 《Black, Pink Balls》 ©DOOSAN Gallery

Next to the door, the phrase "Do Not Enter" is inscribed in reverse (so that it reads correctly only from inside the room). Technically, this instruction applies to those inside the room, not to those outside. Yet, viewers hesitate to enter due to this text. At the same time, Kim has also written the exhibition title, artist’s name, and exhibition dates in reverse on the wall, implying that visitors must enter the room to view the works and text properly. However, instead of stepping inside, viewers linger outside, seeing only silhouettes and reversed letters. In this way, Kim isolates the audience from the artwork. Furthermore, she also isolates the artwork from the conventional exhibition space, as she does not utilize the gallery’s existing walls or lighting.

By making it difficult for viewers to see the works properly while also leaving the artworks themselves in an unfinished state, Kim loosens the conventional relationship between artwork and audience. However, in this exhibition, her works are situated in a paradoxical condition—they are revealed through their relationship with the audience and with the exhibition space itself. If a second-person perspective were applicable to visual art as it is in literature, perhaps Kim’s work in this exhibition would represent that viewpoint. Furthermore, through this second-person approach, she may be reflecting on her own life as an artist.

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