In her installation work “Yes―I know―Screen” (2011), doors from traditional Korean houses are connected in the form of a folding screen. Composed of ten doors in total, the work converts into different shapes depending on circumstances or conditions of exhibition, including the shapes and sizes of the spaces and other installation works. The doors with different-patterned muntins without window paper divide the space almost like a free-standing wall, generating a unique sense of space. According to the position of the objects and the movement of viewers, the mutins look overlapped, and the muntins also create an optical illusion: other works seen through the muntin look as though they are rippling. Through the installation, Yang provides a new perspective on the “compartmentalization,” attempting to create organic relationships among the works in the exhibition hall.
Haegue Yang (b. 1971) graduated from Seoul National University’s Sculpture Department in 1994 and received her Meisterschuler degree (MA) from Stadelschule Frankfurt am Main in Germany in 1999. Her solo exhibitions include “Sibling and Twins” at Portikus Museum, Frankfurt am Main in 2008; the 53th Biennale di Venezia in 2009; “Voice and Wind” at New Museum in New York in 2010; “Multi Faith Room” at Greene Naftali Gallery in New York in 2012; “Family of Equivocations” at The Musee d’art moderne et contemporain de Strasbourg in France in 2013; and “Shooting the Elephant, Thinking the Elephant” at Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art in 2015. She has participated in many international group exhibitions including the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial in 2008; the 53rd Biennale di Venezia in 2009; the 8th Gwangju Biennale in 2010; “Air Hole: Another Conceptualism from Asia,” The National Museum of Art in Osaka in 2011; “Berlin 2000-2011: Playing among the Ruins” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in 2011; “Soundworks” at Institute of Contemporary Art in London in 2012; and dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel in 2012. She has participated in the residency programs including Cite internationale des Arts in Paris in 2002; Delfina Studio in London in 2003; and Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart in 2008. She is the recipient of Hermes Foundation Art Award in 2003 and the 21th Kim Se-choong Young Sculptor Award in 2010.
Haegue Yang connects philosophical thinking derived from personal experiences and memories to universal concepts transcending the realm of politics, history, and culture by using various media and materials such as photography, video, object, and installations. Yang focuses on the theme of community. Based on personal experiences as “a nomad artist” living at home and abroad, Yang recounts the sense of belonging and exclusiveness of a community, and the possibility of another community existing outside of a main community. She also asks if what has been taken for granted is really true, while subverting our absolute belief in nature and tradition. In an attempt to challenge stereotypes in art appreciation, Yang selects blinds, lighting, heaters, diffusers, and fans as materials to freely use wind, scent, sound, and light in her installation works, offering the audience a synesthetic experience to be enjoyed with other sense besides sight.
