[…] He arrived a little too early for his meeting. While trying to pass the time, he happened upon the lounge. There he encountered an unusual situation that awakened every sense within him, prompting him to listen to the room’s ambient sounds and observe exactly what was happening. Glimpsing various pictures and objects that were standing in an oblique manner, he approached them to gain a more detailed view. Even though each picture and object, haphazardly collected and gathered on the spot, was very familiar to him, the clustered scene remained foreign to him. He spotted a modestly sized stage inside the lounge and walked two steps towards it, up the stairs. Once on the stage he found that there were different angles, different durations and disparate times by which he might observe the scenes that played out on the floor. 

Pausing half a metre above the objects, he observed the floor intently as it suddenly transformed into a scenic view. As his sight broadened, the duration of his viewing became prolonged. When his eyes were closed the scenery seemed to pull back, while the fragments of its sounds echoed into the distance. He decided to linger for a while, even though the time for his meeting had now passed. 
– Excerpt from Mr. Neck’s Revolving Sights

Art Sonje Center presents, as its third Lounge Project of 2014, Revolving Sights curated by Even the Neck. Paintings, installation, and sound arts by Seeun Kim, Yeji Kim, Hyun Woo Lee, and Myungwoo Jung have come together to offer a new perspective through which to view the lounge space.

When working with wood and using heavy tools one is normally highly alert, since the job might be physically dangerous. For Myungwoo Jung, the sense that is agitated the most when using tools is the auditory sense. Jung concentrates on the conflicting sounds that occur between the tools and objects, which enables him to check whether his working process is progressing well. He believes that the noisy sounds that come from the tools represent his own situation and manner of working. He thus keeps on working on several wood figures in order not to forget how he should develop his work. Hyun Woo Lee records and analyses everyday experiences and emotions that arise within him. His method of working involves the modulation of connections and dependencies between different elements that exist within these structures, thus transforming everyday observations into art. He uses collected and found materials to assemble altered systems that let viewers shift between connotations and denotations within his work. Seeun Kim walks along continuous roads, and stares at trees, grass and artificial installments that are laid out in the street. These street landscapes and the elements that constitute them please Seeun Kim. At the same time, she finds the unnaturalness and the simplified traits of the formal elements on the streets to be hugely foreign to her, motivating her to translate the instantaneous feelings derived from such scenes into the form of a painting. Yeji Kim depicts images that she may have seen in the past. However, her images are often fragmented rather than thoroughly assembled or complete. Just as a forensic artist creates composite drawings from vague memories, Yeji Kim collects shattered or disparate images and endeavours to compose them into an articulate scene.

About the Artists

Seeun Kim(b. 1989) studied painting at her college. She stares at continuous streets and street landscapes and paint them. Kim lives and works in Seoul.

Yeji Kim(b. 1989) lives and works in Seoul. After graduated from BFA painting at Ewha Womans University, she has participated in group exhibitions at Next Door Gallery (2013, Seoul) and at COMMON CENTER (2014, Seoul).

Hyun Woo Lee(b.1978) lives and works in Seoul. After studied painting at Kaywon School of Art & Design and Kyungwon University, he graduated at Chelsea College of Art and Design, MA Fine Art. He has had his solo exhibition in Alternative Space Loop (2004, Seoul) and participated in several group exhibitions including Vulpes Vulpes (2013, London, UK), Art Exchange (2013, Colchester, UK) and Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2011 at ICA (2012, London, UK).

Myungwoo Jung(b. 1987) graduated from Kyungwon University, BFA painting, works in Seoul. Jung creates sculptural objects and recomposes the objects in the form of performance, together with his interests in art and labouring. He has shown his performance, To the Moving Floors, at Art Sonje Center in 2013.

About Even the Neck

EVEN THE NECK is a not-for-profit organisation that believes in the significance of originality of individual artists and supports their artworks to be exhibited along with the artists’ intention. Established in Seoul, 2011, in a residential unit with a cooperation with a Seoul-based artist community, Even the Neck is currently based in Seoul without a particular physical body.http://eventheneck.org

+ Art Sonje Lounge Project

Meeting its sixth year since inauguration, Art Sonje Lounge Project has sough communication with the public through unconventional artistic endeavors. The Lounge Project invites artists every year to intervene into the public space of the Lounge. In 2014, Art sonje Center has decided, after much contemplating on the role of museum, to expand the education and project space into the former commercial space of cafe and restaurant. It is under such context that the Art Sonje Space Project was initiated to transform various architectural aspects of the museum, and Choon Choi’s Exit Strategy is currently being presented as the very first Space Project. Also, in the newly furnished education rooms, workshops, talks, and screening programs are to be held to support better communication among artists, curators, and the public.