“Studies” Insallation view © Atelier Hermès
Atelier Hermès presents “Studies”, a solo
exhibition by Kim Heecheon, laureate of the 20th Hermès Foundation’s Missulsang,
on view until October 6.
Since his debut in 2015, Kim has been
exploring contemporary conditions of life embedded in digital media and
reproductive devices, and has consistently attracted critical attention for his
extraordinary work that provides insight into the contemporary technological
environment and culture.
In this exhibition, Kim presents his new
work Studies, a new visual endeavor. Studies is a kind of cinematic
film that borrows from the horror genre, and is based on the events of a high
school wrestling team in the run-up to the national championships, and deals
with the horrors that cause the instability of human existence, such as
disappearances, body deformations, and errors in memory and data.
By completing this new work in the form of
a feature film based on cinematic grammar, the artist attempts to bring horror
to the forefront. The issues that have been internalized in his
autobiographical work enter the stage of universal experience through the form
of genre films. At this point, the artist defines the attempt to make a horror
film as a kind of 'study', which is a metaphor for the stage before completion,
a rough or blurred cross-section under a smooth exterior.
Unable to be defined or named, and
therefore associated with frustration or anxiety, noting this emotional stage
also signifies a regression from rational judgment or completeness. The
illusion of fear, which psychologically undermines a stable reality, paradoxically
has the potential to save us from the system by releasing pent-up emotions
within us.
