Tales from the Warehouse 1999

Description

ium’s past performances have been based on costumes that she has fashioned out of unusual materials – plastics, metal, feathers and foam. The iconic characters she creates are reminiscent of Asian cartoons and animation widely popular in Asia and throughout the world. While she recognizes the resemblance, she is quick to point out that the characters are derived from her imagination. Working with filmmakers, graphic artists and models, she invites them and the audience to participate in her “unique and personal world.”

For her work at the Mattress Factory, she began with the setting, a large old building where the interior walls are covered in graffiti. The bold spray-painted images and colors were the inspiration for the characters that she created. The costumes and the make up mimic the images. The performance was based on the ideas of conflict which she feels are the impetus for all graffiti art. She describes her movements as “body drawings.”The performance was filmed in Pittsburgh with the assistance of the Pittsburgh Filmmakers and edited by ium in Seoul.

Artist Statement

Pledge: I wish to remain all my life an outsider wish that the art world remains a foreign place wish that my work remains alien to the world and I wish the art world will think of me as a stranger Me and the art world, let us remain mutually alien.