“Stairs Construction-Podium 1” (2011) is an extension of his previous public art project “Public Blank” (2006-2008), with which Gim proposes public monuments reflecting his subjective view on “the public” with simple drawings and explanations. In this work, common paper boxes, cast in bronze, are piled up in an unstable construction, and a microphone is set up next to them, making an unrealistic podium that cannot serve its function. The installation takes the form of a podium, whose intrinsic purpose is for public speech, but it merely remains a symbolic object composed of everyday disposable materials, with the podium’s purpose of “speech” completely removed. Through this work, Gim challenges the concepts of the public, public art, and public monuments―to which contemporary art has paid keen attention―and suggests a new approach to these subject matters.
Gim Hong Sok (b. 1964) graduated from Seoul National University’s Sculpture Department in 1987 and from Kunstakademie Dusseldorf, Germany in 1996. His solo exhibitions include “Cosmo Vitale” at REDCAT Gallery, Los Angeles, in 2004; “In Through the Outdoor” at Kukje Gallery in 2008; “Antithesis of Boundaries” at Tina Kim Gallery, New York, in 2010; “Ordinary Strangers” at Art Sonje Center in 2011; and “Good Labor Bad Art” at Plateau, Samsung Museum of Art in 2013. He has participated in diverse group exhibitions including “All about Laughter” at Mori Art Museum in 2007; “The Fifth Floor” at Tate Liverpool in 2008; the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial in 2008; the 3rd Nanjing Triennial in 2008; and “Your Bright Future: 12 Contemporary Artists from Korea” at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA in 2010. He was the nominee of the 2012 Korea Artist Prize the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, currently MMCA. Gim currently serves on the faculty at Sangmyung University’s College of Arts.
Gim Hong Sok has explored diverse mediums, including sculpture, installation, performance, and video. He parodies certain trends or artists, or exposes the hidden stories behind the production or distribution practices of art works in order to take down the authority of the art circle. Also, by introducing various devices to confuse the process of perception, he deconstructs the existing system of meaning that society indiscriminately forces upon him, and explores where to create a whole new meaning system. He raises questions on the concepts of authenticity and originality―which have been valued most by the institution of art after modernism―to bring down artists, art works, and galleries from their pedestals, and by doing so, he is shifting the focus to the dynamic and organic relationships among individuals in the art circle.
