When you first began working together in 2009, artist collectives were not as widespread as they are today. Moreover, the art world already had various forms of artist groups, such as artistic circles, small groups, and associations. Why did you choose to identify yourselves as a collective?
We embraced the idea of a collective as a "loosely organized group," rather than a rigid structure governed by rules that, if broken, might lead to its dissolution. One important aspect of how we understand the collective is that "two or more people" constitute the minimum number required to legally hold an assembly or demonstration. In this sense, we consider Part-time Suite a form of "public" with social implications.
We also don't believe there are clear-cut definitions distinguishing terms such as artistic circles and small groups. The nature of these groups has never been fixed; it can expand, transform, or even become distorted over time. Of course, examining when each of these concepts emerged would be meaningful. We find it interesting that several artist collectives, including Part-time Suite, emerged around 2009.
Does Part-time Suite have a particular way of working? I'm curious whether there is a division of roles among the members.
Perhaps because we work together rather than individually, we're often asked about how we divide responsibilities. Art still operates within a strong convention in which individual artists make all the decisions, and the artist's responsibility for and authority over their work are considered important. We're no different, except that the two of us share that authority and responsibility equally.
Fundamentally, every stage of our process requires continuous discussion and involvement from both members, so distinguishing between our roles is meaningless.
Then what happens when you disagree during these discussions?
Friction is a natural part of any conversation. That's precisely why communication skills are necessary. We could describe this process as finding a "balance" within the collective, but it might be easier to understand if you think of the natural process of reaching a shared understanding as something that becomes reflected in Part-time Suite's work.
In other words, the "efficiencies" and "deficiencies" that arise when multiple people set a work in motion or bring it to a halt become the very flesh and blood of the work itself.
Part-time Suite has continued to develop its practice in response to the social conditions it encounters. Your early works focused on site-specificity and the occupation of space, from Under Interior in the basement of a building in Ahyeon-dong and off-off-stage on a vacant lot in Gwanghwamun to Loop the Loop on a rooftop. More recently, however, the scope of your practice seems to have expanded. How do you decide which social phenomena to address in your work?
Like anyone else, artists create work based on their experiences. We simply address whatever feels most "urgent" within those experiences. To begin with, the physical spaces, places, and environments that appeared in our early works were presented as "constructed realities" shaped and arranged by political and economic forces.
These spaces influence the bodies, emotions, experiences, and senses of the people who inhabit them, while remaining environments that can change at any moment. Through our work, we have sought to intervene critically in these spaces, asking how we might reorganize and expand the present together with others.
To do so, we have approached the values, legacies, spaces, and visions or outlines of new technologies produced by our time with a skeptical eye. At the same time, we have considered the signs of both the future and the past that shape the present to be equally important. I think the scope of our practice has gradually expanded because we continue to address whatever forces most strongly shape and confront us in the lives we lead.
