[Gallery Walk] Talking to Whales, Stray Cats, and Rock-Carved Buddha Statues

1st Generation Female Installation Artist Hong Ihyeonsuk Solo Exhibition 'Hwheong, Chu-Pu'

The raft installed in the space called "Yeodeolb Maridaeungdae" by "Hwheong, Chu-Pu".

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] "Kkiiwooook... Ggeureureuk."

In a dark and empty place, a sound pierced the ears like a ghost crying. It was said to be the cry of whales. When one cried, another responded as if in conversation. The dialogue continued for 13 minutes before the whales soon disappeared into the deep sea.

At the Arko Art Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, the first-generation installation artist Hong Ihyeonsuk (63) is holding a solo exhibition titled "Hwing, Chu-Pu." Upon entering the first exhibition hall, "Eight Lighthouses," the auditory sense reacted first. Here, the cries of eight species of whales are played from eight speakers at 15-minute intervals. The whale sounds were provided by marine research institutes in the United States and the United Kingdom, with various noises removed and transformed into a form audible to humans.

The artist said she brought whale sounds "for communication between humans and non-humans." Language is a communication tool exclusive to humans and acts as an obstacle that distances us from external beings. Whales communicate among themselves using sounds that range from high to low frequencies, perceive the external world, and roam the vast ocean. The artist encourages the audience to listen to the whale cries to non-verbally communicate with them.

For humans to communicate smoothly with non-humans, they must first throw away written language. The exhibition title "Hwing, Chu-Pu" is in this context. "Hwing" is the sound of something flying, and "Chu-Pu" is the sound of something hitting somewhere. "Chupu" also means the sound of an animal's body being blown by the wind or hitting the water surface in the indigenous South African language, Quechua. Regarding the use of onomatopoeia and mimetic words in the title, the artist explained, "Through open sounds and bodies, not human language, the intention is to break away from the modern dichotomy logic of human versus non-human and communicate equally with animals."

In one corner of the space, a raft with an antenna floats under a small light. The raft soon transforms into a small room. The floor is covered with sticky vinyl flooring, and a modest work table is placed in the corner. On the table lies a lump of clay that looks like a cat in progress. The artist has visualized the room where she actually lives in the form of a raft.

At the artist's suggestion, sitting on the raft caused it to tilt and then suddenly rise as balance was lost. It felt like floating on a rolling sea. The room represents the artist's inner self, the empty space where whale sounds are heard represents nature, and the raft seems to express the artist's will and desire to approach it.

At the exhibition venue called "Seokgwangsa Area" of "Hwing, Chu-Pu," artist Hong Ihyeonsuk's interaction with cats is being screened.

Moving to the second-floor exhibition hall called "Near Seokgwangsa Temple," a video of the artist trying to approach stray cats is being screened. Seokgwangsa is a shrine located in Galhyeon 1-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, a redevelopment area, where a tiger statue ridden by the mountain spirit is enshrined. The tiger is revered as a spiritual and sacred creature. However, stray cats, despite being in the same feline family, are often objects of disgust to humans. The artist said, "If this place is redeveloped, it would be a mass slaughter."

The artist climbs onto roofs to look at the neighborhood from the same perspective as the cats or precariously crawls along narrow walls. She experiences the living environment of the cats. This is also the artist's message that we must find ways to communicate with non-human animals and live together in nature.

"This attempt is not to surpass animals or anthropomorphize them. It is to imprint the differences between them and me more deeply in the body and ultimately learn coexistence skills from the human perspective and live accordingly. Art might be able to pave the way for this."

Another exhibition space features "What You Are Touching Now," where visitors can visually caress the rock-carved Buddha statue at Seunggasa Temple in Bukhansan following the artist's gaze. In an era where opportunities for face-to-face contact are decreasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is an attempt to touch objects not through touch but through vision, hearing, and imagination. On days when we must face all non-humans through monitors in our rooms, such a "third sense" might be desperately needed.

The exhibition runs until the 28th of next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.