London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Expo visit: Crystallise and other media art at KBEE

It was a shame that there were only two days to enjoy the product of the huge amount of investment – both financial and in terms of time and effort – that went into the creation of KBEE 2013 and its associated events.

The basement of Billingsate is a perfect venue for video art: huge cathedral-like spaces, and no natural light to distract the eye from the artists’ conceptions, and Stephanie Seungmin Kim of ISKAI Contemporary Art had taken full advantage of the space for her impressive exhibition of contemporary Korean and European media art entitled Crystallize.

But given that the expo was held during the working day, with no chance to revisit, I’m afraid I cannot provide a comprehensive review. All I can do is list the works exhibited by the Korean artists, and post the official video of the event and some of my own photographs.

The Korean artists shown were:

  • Nam June Paik: Documenta 6 Satellite Telecast
  • Terry Ryu Kim: Screening Solution IV
  • Lee-nam Lee: Battle of Seolmari
  • Suhee Kim: Text Meaning Image
  • Ayoung Kim: Please Return to Busan Port
  • Kira Kim: London – Beijing – Tokyo, 29th Floor & On the Bridge
  • Sang Un Jeon: Trailers Archive, Virtual City
  • Je Baak: The Structure Of

In a side room off the exhibition was a space where visitors could get to know the work of the Korean Artists Project, an online resource which introduces the works of some of the most important contemporary Korean artists.

And upstairs in the main exhibition space was a Han Ki-chang screen entitled Röntgen’s Garden – Scenery of Composition (2013).

The work takes some of Han’s own X-rays following a near fatal accident, and pastes them to create images of birds and flowers: life from trauma.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.