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[개인전 소식] Hye Yeon Nam: “Singularis” _Buffalo Arts Studio, Buffalo, New York

yoo8965 2011. 1. 25. 20:59

지난 1월 15일부터 3월 12일까지 뉴욕에서 남혜연 작가의 개인전이 진행되고 있답니다. 초청개인전으로 진행되는 이번 전시에서는 남혜연 작가의 지금까지의 작업들과 관객들이 미소를 지으면 제스처를 변화시키는 로봇 팔 작업도 선보인다고 하네요. 가깝다면 보고 싶은 전시인데, 안타깝습니다. 혹시나 지금 뉴욕에 계신 분들은 한번씩 관람하시면 좋겠습니다.

자세한 소식은 아래 설명을 참고하시기 바랍니다.

Place: Buffalo Arts Studio, Buffalo, New York
Date: Jan 15-March 12, 2011

http://www.buffaloartsstudio.org/ge_current.html

***
"Please Smile 작업은 지식경제부와 한국디자인진흥원이 지원하는 디자인리더육성사업의 펀딩으로 완성되었습니다."

Hye Yeon Nam: “Singularis”
Korean-born artist Hye Yeon Nam’s works, though largely based on her individual circumstances of moving to the United States, are universal in their exploration of cultural expectations, social anxieties, body image, and the boundaries between public and private space. Wonderland (2008; cover image) is a surreal video in which Nam wanders the sidewalks of NYC’s Times Square, dazing indifferently at passersby who all seem to be walking in reverse. As if caught in a dream or having momentarily awoken from one, she glides, somewhat awkwardly yet deliberately, through the unsuspecting crowd. Even after the viewer discovers the artist’s editing trick (it is actually Nam who is walking backward with the video played in reverse), what remains truly remarkable and uncanny is her ability to navigate one of the largest tourist areas in the world without so much as brushing up against another human being; the artist’s keen awareness of her body moving through space and the fact that others are so aloof and unaffected by her bizarre movements heighten the overwhelming sense of loneliness. The utterly minimal work, while lacking any semblance of emotion, conflict, or climax, nonetheless succeeds in epitomizing the inevitable feelings of curiosity, amazement, confusion, and isolation that result from significant cultural transitions. While Nam’s own vulnerability is portrayed in Wonderland, the gaze is turned back on the viewer in Please Smile (a reworked version of Pointing at Me, 2006; upper right image), a motion-sensitive interactive robot that makes gestures such as finger pointing in response to viewers’ facial expressions. The work enables the viewer to empathize with Nam’s struggle to adhere to Confucian ideals regarding women’s role in society, as well as her experiences with prejudice and ridicule upon arriving in America. She explains, “The space of being neither here following correct rule nor there following
incorrect rule is precisely what I try to convey”; that Nam has selected neither a Korean nor an English title for her exhibition, but the Latin Singularis (“Solitary”) instead, further suggests this displacement. Self Portrait (2006; bottom image) is a series of four videos in which the artist performs mundane tasks (eating, walking, drinking, and sitting) with unusual difficulty. By willingly subjecting herself to public humiliation and exposing her limitations and frustrations in witty and poignant ways, Nam tackles her adversity head-on, discovering solace and proving that “art can be a question, an argument, a proposal, a resolution, and, ideally, a nirvana.”
- Cori Wolff, Exhibitions Curator


아래는 남혜연 작가에 관한 설명입니다.

Hye Yeon Nam is a digital media artist working on video and installation in Atlanta and NYC. She is a Ph.D. candidate at Georgia Institute of Technology and holds an MFA in Digital Media from Rhode Island School of Design. Nam’s art has been showcased by Times Square, Eyebeam, The Tank, and DUMBO Arts Festival in New York; SIGGRAPH 2008; CHI 2010; The Lab in San Francisco; and several festivals in China, Ireland, UK, Germany, Australia, Denmark, and Switzerland. Her work has also been broadcast on the Discovery Channel (Canada) and featured in Wired and Makezine, among other publications.    www.hynam.org