“New Hermits” Installation view at Alterside © Alterside
New Hermits by Jipyeong Kim, Hyunjin Kim,Hwan Lee, 99betaHUD, and dpgp78 are view on at AlterSide from June 30 to July 28. AlterSide is an exhibition space and video production company that opened in 2020 and explores the concept of alternative space by pursuing alternative curating and infrastructure.
The exhibition examines both the concept of ‘seclusion’ in the works of 14th-century Chinese artist Ni Zan(倪瓚, 1301~1374) and 1980s goth rock, finding similarities between the two in their emphasis on negativity and absence. It connects this sense of absence to the sense of disconnection and contactless we have experienced during the pandemic.
In the window of the exhibition space, dpgp78’s < Korea is good > (2023), an installation in the form of a large curtain, is displayed. The drawings on the curtain were created by team members Jihwan Kim and Sungsig Min, who took turns drawing without communicating with each other, reinforcing the separation between the space outside the curtain and the space inside.
Also, Hyunjin Kim mixes various icons and figures in paintings to create a space that is difficult to distinguish between dream and reality, while Jipyeong Kim visualizes gothic novel characters and goth rock female vocalists in the form of folding screens and hanging scrolls.
In addition, Hwan Lee and 99betaHUD (Yelim Ki, Jihyoung Han) will present paintings and video works that address distance from personal and social reality, respectively.
Calling those of us who experienced disconnection and absence during the pandemic “New Hermits”, the exhibition allows us to understand that time once again by presenting the absence actively.
