Lee Bul's immersive maze of mirrors exhibited at Lehmann Maupin forces the viewers into direct confrontation with perspective itself. Within it, the viewer sees themselves in parts and continuously experiences the fragments of their own self.
Friday, October 30, 2015
Via Negativa II
Lee Bul's immersive maze of mirrors exhibited at Lehmann Maupin forces the viewers into direct confrontation with perspective itself. Within it, the viewer sees themselves in parts and continuously experiences the fragments of their own self.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
On Every New Shadow- Exhibition
On Every New Shadow was a sculptural installation shown at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in Paris from 2007-08. The sculptures included in the installation were suspended in mid-air or anchored to the floor, creating an environment that engages the surrounding architecture. Lee Bul's complex installation explores the disintegration of utopian aspirations that haunt the imagination in a dark space of glittering ruins.
Sternbau No. 4, Lee Bul (2007) Sternbau No. 5, Lee Bul (2007)
Some of Bul's work in this installation was inspired and influenced by Bruno Taut, a German architect and urban planner. Taut's ideas of buildings being giant mountains of glittering glass ornamentation resonate with Bul's ideas of an ideal society or fantasy landscape. Her work also reflects the incompleteness of utopian architecture theories. Bul says these pieces "evoke the spirit of Bruno Taut". Bul's After Bruno Taut (Beware the sweetness of things) resembles Taut's The Crystal Mountain.
After Bruno Taut (Beware the sweetness of things), Lee Bul (2007)
Bul's construction of utopian urban landscape models derive from modernist architectural designs and figments of her imagination. The structures represent utopian dreams through dystopian hyper-realities, seeking the perfect society but only pointing to its demise. Bul's landscapes originated from her first series starting in 2005, Mon grand recit. The architectural elements in her work function as allegories for the state of society and humankind's desire for perfection.
Aubade, Lee Bul (2007)
"On Every New Shadow" Installation view, Fondation Cartier
The lake of black ink in Bul's Heaven and Earth (pictured above) represents Baekdu Mountian, the traditional birthplace of the Korean people on the border of China and North Korea. Baekdu Mountain has one of the world's highest crater lakes, Heaven Lake, and has been a source of territorial disputes for centuries.
Heaven and Earth (detail), Lee Bul (2007)
Overall, Bul's highly conceptual models shown in On Every New Shadow use art to approach a new understanding of the past century.
Some of Bul's work in this installation was inspired and influenced by Bruno Taut, a German architect and urban planner. Taut's ideas of buildings being giant mountains of glittering glass ornamentation resonate with Bul's ideas of an ideal society or fantasy landscape. Her work also reflects the incompleteness of utopian architecture theories. Bul says these pieces "evoke the spirit of Bruno Taut". Bul's After Bruno Taut (Beware the sweetness of things) resembles Taut's The Crystal Mountain.
Bul's construction of utopian urban landscape models derive from modernist architectural designs and figments of her imagination. The structures represent utopian dreams through dystopian hyper-realities, seeking the perfect society but only pointing to its demise. Bul's landscapes originated from her first series starting in 2005, Mon grand recit. The architectural elements in her work function as allegories for the state of society and humankind's desire for perfection.
The lake of black ink in Bul's Heaven and Earth (pictured above) represents Baekdu Mountian, the traditional birthplace of the Korean people on the border of China and North Korea. Baekdu Mountain has one of the world's highest crater lakes, Heaven Lake, and has been a source of territorial disputes for centuries.
Overall, Bul's highly conceptual models shown in On Every New Shadow use art to approach a new understanding of the past century.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
From Me, Belongs To You Only- Exhibition
From Me, Belongs To You Only was the first large-scale solo exhibition of Lee Bul's work at the Mori Art Museum in 2012. This exhibition contained 45 works, 150 drawings, 50 models, and was curated by Kataoka Mami. With the use of mixed media, Bul addresses the dualism between a highly traditional society and technological advances. Bul's pieces also explore trends in popular culture, themes of feminine identity, and science fiction fantasy.
At the end of the exhibition, a dog-shaped sculpture made of various reflective materials and modeled after Bul's pet of 17 years sits on a table overlooking Tokyo. The large amount of materials pouring out of the animal's mouth may hint at the disclosure of the time and memories it shared with Bul.
The name of the exhibition, From Me, Belongs To You Only, comes from a line in a letter written to Bul's lover several years ago. Bul wanted to share the warm and loving phrase with all the visitors and search for a personal relationship with each individual viewer. The social and political history of her home country where she grew up is also reflected in her work as it progressed from military dictatorship to democracy.
Amaryllis, Lee Bul (1999)
"Lee Bul: From Me, Belongs To You Only" Installation view, Mori Art Museun
From Me, Belongs To You Only takes the viewers through Bul's aesthetics, frustrations, and yearnings while revealing the sublime behind the monstrous.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Bibliography
Lee Bul was born in Yeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea in 1964. She is a contemporary sculpture and installation artist who began showcasing her work in the mid 1980s with provocative performance sculptures. Bul studied sculpture at Hongik University in Seoul, which divided Korean art between academic modernists who paint abstract canvases and people making minjoong misool or "People's Art". Because of this, Bul invented her own version of postmodernism that addresses issues such as gender and sexuality in public performances challenging the patriarchal society and their tolerance for feminist views. She graduated from the university in 1987.
Bul's first international scene was in 1997 with her installation "Majestic Splendor" presented at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. "Majestic Splendor" was a collection of sequin-decorated raw fish which rotted as time went on. In 1999, Bul again achieved international recognition when she represented Korea in the Venice Biennale.
Between 1996 and 1999, Bul completed three mixed media installations incorporating photography and large scale inflatable forms. One of these pieces entitled "I Need You (Monument), features a phallic object with a photograph of the artist in lingerie on the front and foot pedals below the mass to inflate it. The juxtaposition of the title and medium contrasts the invulnerability of inflatables and ideas of what monuments are made of. The use of the pedals draws attention to society's contribution to traditional ideals. Another piece entitled "Hydra II (Monument)", is another image of Bul provocatively dressed on the surface of a large inflatable pink monster.
Between 1997 and 2011, Bul created a series of cyborg sculptures that became very well-known. The series started with "Cyborg Red" and "Cyborg Blue"in 1997-1998. Her cyborg work features decapitated anthropomorphic forms that may be missing an arm, leg, or in some cases both. Bul has said that cyborgs are a trope for our fear and fascination with the uncategorizable and the uncanny.
Bul has had many solo exhibitions worldwide including New York, Toronto, Paris, and Tokyo. She was also selected as a finalist for the 1998 Hugo Boss Prize by the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In 2010 a permanent installation by Bul was unveiled at the Hara Museum ARC called "A Fragmentary Anatomy of Every Setting Sun" and in 2012 the Mori Art Museum launched Bul's largest exhibition to date.
Citation:
Ardia, C.A. Xuan Mai. "The Art of Lee Bul: Of Cyborgs, Monsters and Utopian Landscapes." The Culture Trip. The Culture Trip Ltd, n.d. Web. <http://theculturetrip.com/asia/south-korea/articles/the-art-of-lee-bul-of-cyborgs-monsters-and-utopian-landscapes/>.
Battista, Anna. "LEE BUL: FROM ME, BELONGS TO YOU ONLY – Zoot Magazine." LEE BUL: FROM ME, BELONGS TO YOU ONLY – Zoot Magazine. Kwame Corporation, 21 May 2012. Web. <http://www.zootmagazine.com/2012/05/21/lee-bul-from-me-belongs-to-you-only/>.
Masters, HG. "Wayward Tangents: Lee Bul." ArtAsiaPacific Nov. 2007: n. pag. Print.
Murray, Soraya. "Cybernated Aesthetics: Lee Bul and the Body Transfigured." PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 30.2 (2008): 38-50. Web.
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