Artist Talk with Kim Jee Soo © ARTIENCE LAB+

“I love living things, such as plants, insects, and animals. That’s why I create works about them.”

Hello, I’m artist Kim Jee Soo. It’s been eight years since I moved to Daejeon. I work in painting and installation art. My interests lie in living organisms, in things that are alive and breathing. Perhaps because I grew up surrounded by plants, insects, and animals, these living creatures naturally appear in my work, and I have developed a strong interest in natural phenomena. For the past several years, I’ve also enjoyed reading magazines such as Newton and National Geographic, as well as watching documentaries about nature and living organisms.

To tell you a little more about my childhood, my father is a historian, and he used to grow an incredible number of plants at home. I remember one particular incident. We lived in a detached house, and a cat gave birth to kittens in the basement. Whenever people came and went, the mother cat wouldn’t return. So we left food for them and tried to create an environment where they could live safely. There was even a time when I cared for a tiny, wriggling creature without being entirely sure whether it was a mouse.


“The Time of Plants Is Different from Human Time”

I’ve always been interested in living organisms, but toward the end of last year, I became particularly fascinated by plants. As a result, I began incorporating more plant-related subjects into my work. In the past, I primarily expressed my ideas through painting, but I later turned increasingly to installation art because I wanted to try something different. I decided to participate in Artience Daejeon as a way of further expanding the media I use in my practice.

The theme of this session is “Seeing Human Time and Plant Time.” As the title suggests, the concept of time experienced by humans is entirely different from that of plants. Time passes very slowly for plants. To experience time as plants perceive it, I began by growing various kinds of plants myself. I collected seeds and tried germinating them, placing them in almost every space within my reach.

What’s fascinating is that even if we watch a plant 24 hours a day, we humans cannot visually detect its movements. No matter how long we observe a seed, we cannot actually perceive the moment it sprouts or takes root. Have you ever witnessed a plant sprouting and putting down roots as it happens?

From a human perspective, plants seem neither to move nor to respond. As a result, people often treat them as insignificant. We walk across grass without thinking twice and pull out weeds to throw them away. I’ve noticed that even children do these things quite naturally. This is why I believe that plants and humans exist in different temporalities: one in which time passes very slowly, and another in which it moves quickly. I wanted to convey this idea through my work for Artience Daejeon.


“Plants respond so slowly that working with them might be difficult… Why not work with animals instead?”

While preparing my work for Artience Daejeon, I visited a research institute and had a meal with some researchers and students. During the meal, one of them asked why I had chosen plants as my subject. Most of the researchers suggested that I work with animals instead. They explained that plants are extremely sensitive to their environment and that their slow responses and growth would make them difficult to work with.

But I actually wanted to make use of that very “slowness.”

That conversation made me reflect once again on why I had chosen plants in the first place. I went back to my original intentions. As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to show people who casually step on, break, or disregard plants that they, too, are precious living organisms capable of responding to their surroundings. Above all, I have a seven-year-old daughter, and I wanted to communicate the value of plant life to children like her.


Artist Talk with Kim Jee Soo © ARTIENCE LAB+

“Clap Your Hands and Talk to Them. The Chloroplasts Will Respond to You.”

There’s something strangely mesmerizing about observing the chloroplasts in different leaves under a microscope. I’m not sure whether they follow a particular path or simply move along behind the chloroplasts in front of them, but they move much faster than you might expect, and very quietly. If you look closely, you can also see slightly blurred chloroplasts behind those in the foreground.

I found it fascinating that even when observing such a thin layer of leaf epidermis, there are distinct layers between the chloroplasts. As I continued observing them, I noticed that their movements also changed slightly with seasonal temperature variations. They move faster in summer and slow down in winter, although these movements are invisible to the naked eye. Watching chloroplasts closely allows you to experience the boundless vitality of plants firsthand. By observing their movements, you come to realize that plants, too, are living organisms in constant motion.


Chloroplasts observed under a microscope © ARTIENCE LAB+ 

Although we cannot directly observe these plant responses with the naked eye, I wanted to create an experience that would make them perceptible. So I conceived my main work as an installation featuring plant objects that respond to stimuli such as clapping or speaking, triggering footage of moving chloroplasts on a screen in front of them. It’s a form of interactive art. Many people ask whether the chloroplasts are actually moving in real time, but of course, that’s not the case. The prerecorded footage is simply activated in response to sound.


“Plants Are Constantly Moving, Just Like Those That Dance to Music or Respond to Touch”

When you observe different plants, you’ll find that many respond to stimuli such as music, sound, and smell. The dancing plant, for example, moves its leaves as though dancing when music is played, while the sensitive plant (Mimosa) responds to touch. Other plants are also constantly moving. I think you can appreciate this much more deeply when you grow them yourself.

Try placing some seeds in a small Petri dish and observing the germination process. I’m sure you’ll see plants differently afterward. Although we cannot directly perceive these movements as they happen, I don’t believe that something must be “proven” in order to “exist.” There is certainly a world beyond what we can see. That is the world as perceived from the perspective of plants.

Through this exhibition, I wanted visitors to experience that invisible world. I believe that plants possess both emotions and thoughts. There’s even a book called The Secret Life of Plants! If you’re curious about the inner world of plants, I highly recommend reading it. It’s truly fascinating!


Germination of a cucumber seed © ARTIENCE LAB+ 

“Do Humanity and Nature Live in Symbiosis, or Is It Survival of the Fittest? What Do You Think?”

When creating paintings and installations involving plants, one of the main ideas I have wanted to explore is “symbiosis.”

As you become more involved in society, do you feel that we are truly living in symbiosis? For a long time, I have felt that our society is moving in the opposite direction.

Unlike the conventional interpretation of Darwin’s theory of evolution, the renowned American biologist Lynn Margulis argued that humanity coevolves through symbiosis. This contrasts with Darwin’s emphasis on survival of the fittest through constant competition. I tend to agree with Margulis. I believe that symbiosis is the starting point for better evolution and development. Humans, in particular, can live longer and in healthier environments through symbiotic relationships with plants.

When I gave birth to my daughter, the experience of carrying another living being inside my body and then bringing her into the world profoundly influenced the way I see plants—as living organisms deserving of care and respect. This is why I feel an even stronger desire to teach children like my daughter about the value of plant life.

If I have the opportunity in the future, I would love to design spaces incorporating plants for children. Through symbiotic relationships with plants, I hope children will come to appreciate them more deeply and develop a greater sense of familiarity with them. What kinds of plants are around you? When you get home, I encourage you to try germinating some seeds. You might gradually begin to see the invisible world of plants.

Perhaps that is where “symbiosis” begins.

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