The KCCUK has invited three artists working with new media and installation-based performances to exhibit works drawing on human-nonhuman ecologies in the virtual realm. ‘Our Friendly Neighbours’ focuses on the connection between art, technology, and the environment in a post-pandemic world. During this isolation, the understanding of the neighbourhood has increasingly expanded beyond immediate borders to encompass the global and non-human, with the question of the role of technology as a powerful tool for both connection and control being discussed throughout. Reflecting on the reckless human expansion under hyper-capitalism, the cause of the continuing climate crisis and the pandemic response, the exhibition hones in on the virtual ecologies made and the artificial perceptions of space and time as communities collectively experience the destruction of the planet. ‘Our Friendly Neighbours’ speculates on the dystopian, and yet also the hopeful possibilities for the future in the call to protect our neighbourhood, this earth.
The artists’ responses are site-specific and immersive installations, new works employing large video projections, digital soundscapes and three-dimensional design. Experimenting with technology and large-scale media, the artists intend to transport visitors across concepts of borders and reflect on the shared challenges faced during the pandemic and beyond.
Yiyun Kang’s projection installation ‘Finite 2.0’, originally developed for architectural facades, reflects on the juxtaposition of images of natural landscapes in mega-urban environments as possible tools of engagement of urban communities towards their relationship with nature.
Jinjoon Lee’s series ‘Wandering Sun’ continues the artist’s exploration of liminal spaces and further questions how we can explore the relationship between natural and artificial through visual art.
Finally, Bang & Lee’s artwork ‘The place that has no name’ is a continuing series of dystopian landscapes. For the artists, their work is not an attempt to respond to geopolitics, nor does it convey any abstract implication. Instead, the “terra” explored in their work is appropriately given a new space for interpretation in this era of the pandemic.
The exhibition will be open to the public from 8 September and will be free of charge.
ARTISTS
Yiyun Kang
https://www.yiyunkang.com/
Yiyun Kang is an artist who cultivates immersive environments for video projection. She presents synesthetic narratives, reflecting dichotomy through spatial projection mapping installations.Her works have been presented at the Victoria & Albert Museum, Seoul Museum of Art, Venice Architecture Biennale, Shenzhen Biennale UABB and Taipei MOCA amongst others. In 2020, she participated as the sole Korean artist in the transcontinental contemporary art project CONNECT BTS.
Jinjoon Lee
https://leejinjoon.com/
Dr. Jinjoon Lee FRSA is a new media artist and creative director exploring the liminoid experience of utopian space ideologies utilising new technologies. He acquired a Doctor of Philosophy specialising in Liminoid experience and was selected as Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2021, an award for prospective leading young UK artists for the future of contemporary art.
Bang and Lee
https://linktr.ee/bangandlee
The two-member collective Bang & Lee presents a wide range of distinctive projects including new media and installation-based performances. Their works have been exhibited internationally, including Watershed (UK), MAXXI (Italy), MoCA Shanghai (China), NTMoFA (Taiwan), Nafasi Art Space (Tanzania) and Art Center Nabi (Korea).
RELATED EVENTS
[Opening Reception]
Date: 8th September, 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: Korean Cultural Centre UK, Grand Buildings, 1 Strand London WC2N 5BW
RSVP required*
[Conference] East Meets East: Han Ma Eum
Date: 9th September, 3:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: Korean Cultural Centre UK, Grand Buildings, 1 Strand London WC2N 5BW
Booking required* (follow the link below)
Our Friendly Neighbours | Press Release
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