“Art Sonje Project Space” presents Territories of Assembly as its second project of year 2014. Based on a research conducted on the DMZ of Korea in 2013 by Switzerland’s HEAD (Haute École d’Art et de Design) research team, this exhibition consists of photography, video, installation, and sound works by seven artists.

Derived from individual and group observations of and around the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), Territories of Assembly investigates and interrogates some of the pressing issues around the marginal yet geopolitical sandwich territory that is known the DMZ. Subjects such as Division, Seclusion and Exception are at stake here and – in regard to a range of borders that have been brought about due to friction and conflict created through historical, political, economic, and social variables – are thereby mobilizing the significance of (in)visible borderlines and the subsequent phenomena that they inevitably cause.

The work of the Geneva-based, multi-national research team has been developed across formats in a post-disciplinary manner, speculating on the potential for outside commentary and speculations as a means of critical reflection as well as prospective techniques unearthing the various connections between past, present and future. The exhibition investigates the spatial as well as socio-political realities and frictions of and around both the physical and psychological geography of the DMZ. As a joint effort and collaboration between Art Sonje Center (Seoul) and the Haute École d’Art et de Design (Geneva), the project contributes to an ongoing discussion between a group of international artists and intellectuals.

Based on a methodology of agonistic practice of observation that culminates in a series of individual as well as group “products”, these multiple interventions form the basis of a series of investigations that aim to open up a new terrain that addresses the long-term societal trajectories of the latent North/South conflict.

About the Artists

Denise Bertschi (1983) lives and works in Switzerland. Her practice focuses on forms of flow and resistance in socio-political and precarious in-between states of human conditions and their geographies. After studying at the University of the Arts in Zurich and at ArteZ, Institute of the Arts in the Netherlands, she continues her research within the context of work.master at HEAD, Geneva. She is also working around forms and formats of artistic publishing and bookmaking. Her work was recently presented in art centers in France and Switzerland.

Ciel Grommen (1989) graduated in Architecture from the University of Leuven, Belgium. She has been assisting in various international ateliers of architects and artists. Grommen is also involved in the organization of artistic events and festivals. Since 2013, she continued her research within the context of work.master at HEAD, Geneva, and develops an artistic practice that questions urbanism in the context of post-globalism.

Karim Bel Kacem is a director and actor. He trained as an actor at the Conservatoire d’Art Dramatique of 5th district of Paris, along with at la Manufacture (HETSR). He directed several projects in France and Switzerland ever since 2006. For the past two years in Geneva, he studied space, sculpture and performance installation.

Carol Joo Lee (1973) is a New York-based artist and writer, who investigates subjectification of culture and media, as well as tactile connections to the psyche. Her work has been shown in Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in New York, LIYH and Septieme Etage in Geneva. In parallel with her interest in art, she has worked in publishing for a number of years and is currently the Editor-at-Large for Dune/Libertin Magazine based in Tokyo, Japan. She graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute and recently received her MFA with felicitations from HEAD, Geneva, and a postgraduate degree in Ceramics from the Centre d’Expérimentation et de Réalisation en Céramique Contemporaine.

Yeji Lee (1988) recently received her MFA from work.master at HEAD, Geneva. She received her BFA from the Pratt Institute in New York, and – after having spent a long time in foreign soil – she has returned to Seoul, where she currently lives and works.

Tali Serruya (1985) lives and works in Switzerland and France. After studying at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art of Paris, she joined HEAD, Geneva, to continue her research based on the notion of theater plasticity. She has presented her work internationally in several theaters and art centers in the UK, Morocco, France, and Switzerland.

Seyoung Yoon (1986) lives and works in Geneva. Her research focuses on contemporary hyper-connectivity and how people are affected by it both emotionally and physically. Her work analyzes social interactions in human relations along with the resulting isolation and liberation. Yoon’s most recent work has been included in exhibitions at the Istituto Svizzero, Milan, and at Castillo Corrales, Paris.

About the Curator

Markus Miessen (1978) is an architect and writer. The initiator of the Participation tetralogy, his work revolves around questions of critical spatial practice, institution building, and spatial politics. His practice, Studio Miessen, is currently working on projects for and with EACC Castellon, Artsonje Seoul, Hamburger Kunstverein, Istanbul Biennale, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Bergen Assembly, Performa Biennial, Witte de With, Kosovo National Gallery, Weltkulturen Museum, and the artists Hito Steyerl and Denes Farkas. Their largest project to date is a strategic framework and new Kunsthalle building for a former NATO military site in Germany. In 2008, Miessen founded the Winter School Middle East (Kuwait). He used to be professor for Critical Spatial Practice at the Städelschule, Frankfurt, and is now professor-in-practice at HEAD, Geneva, as well as at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

About Art Sonje Project Space

Newly inaugurated in the latter half of year 2014 on the ground floor space of the museum after its renovation, “Art Sonje Project Space” is a platform for temporary and free artistic endeavors. To replace the museum’s commercial facilities such as cafe and restaurant with an expansion of education and project space, Art Sonje Center invited an architectural project to transform its ground floor public space. While succeeding the spirit of the “Artsonje Lounge Project (2009-2014)”, more emphasis has been put on the openness of the space and introduction of various programs, such as talks and workshops.