Kimsooja: Contemplating the Human Condition

Carleton University Render Volume 8 Kimsooja: Contemplating the Human Condition Lauren Lussier Art History (SSAC), Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada Abstract: Kimsooja is a contemporary Korean Conceptual artist whose interdisciplinary artistic practice brings forward a meditative quality that encourages both the artist and the viewer/participant to move towards an entirely open awareness of the self. Kimsooja’s art and approach to life are influenced by Eastern philosophies and belief systems such as Buddhism and Taoism. As such, the presence of her art in the Western world effectively weaves together two different, but not mutually exclusive, cultures and ways of thinking. Temporality, anonymity, and performance are central to many of Kimsooja’s works, giving her the ability to transform her personal experiences into neutral, universally accessible artworks that highlight human connection across time, space, and identity. Keywords: Conceptual art, Buddhism, Performance art, Kimsooja, Korean Art , Temporality stead, she strives to transform her subjectivity into Introduction more broadly relatable and accessible artistic experiences. The word “universal” has gained a nega- Kimsooja (b. 1957) is a contemporary Ko- tive connotation in post-modern and contemporary rean artist whose meditative artworks explore and settings, however it plays a big role in Kimsooja’s address “issues of the displaced self.”1 Fundamen- practice. Deeply influenced by certain aspects of tally human, Kimsooja’s art is often directly tied to Buddhist thought and philosophy, “universal” in her biography. Even so, she refrains from imposing the context of her work does not denote an essen- any strictly personal narratives onto her work. In- tializing or totalizing of all humanity, rather it rep- 1 Deeplai Dewan and Murtaza Vali, Post Object: Michael Joo, Kimsooja, Samina Mansuir, Pushpamala N., Ravinder Reddy (Toronto: Doris McCarthy Gallery, 2007), 30. 1 © Render, Carleton University Carleton University Render Volume 8 resents an effort “to cultivate a mindfulness of be considered in relation to temporality, Zen Bud- what human beings encounter by virtue of being dhism, and concepts of impermanence. Fourth, A human” through art.2,3 By constantly pondering the Needle Woman, a performative video from 2009, reality of the human condition and experience – and the artist’s use of meditation and her body to both spiritually and corporeally – Kimsooja en- weave together different cultures and peoples will courages the development of an entirely open and be discussed. These artworks each demonstrate a aware consciousness in both herself and the viewer concern with the past, the present, and the future not unlike the Buddhist ambition towards enlight- and focus on the ambiguities that exist between enment.4 As such, her art has a democratized quali- the mind, the body, and the spirit. This brings for- ty that imbues it with the ability to blur the lines ward a sense of togetherness amongst the artist and between and unite the individual and the multiple, the viewer.6 the body with the spirit, and even possibly the East and the West.5 Buddhism Buddhism emerged in the 5th century BCE In the following pages, I will analyze a se- as an alternative religion to Hinduism.7 The two lection of Kimsooja’s artworks in order to explore faiths bare some similarities, most notably the re- how their unifying quality functions within a glob- nunciation of the self, but are different in how alized world intertwined with the legacies of colo- Buddhism encourages the establishment of a nialism and the construction of orientalism. It will “community of practitioners as a society of equals” begin with an investigation into the influence of and Hinduism does not.8 Buddhist ways of thought Buddhist thought and philosophy on her work and assert that there are three characteristics of exis- contemporary art more generally. Following this, tence: impermanence, suffering, and the non-self.9 the performative videos that make up Sewing into Frequently explored in Kimsooja’s videos and in- Walking (1994) will be discussed for their cyclical stallations are the notions of impermanence and and nomadic features which directly reflect Bud- the non-self which she expresses through tempo- dhist teachings and the experience of migration. rality/duration, meditation, and anonymity. Second, another performative video Cities on the Move – 2727 Kilometers Bottari Truck, Korea In her book Makers of Modern Korean (1997) and its connection to notions of migration, Buddhism, Jin Y. Park introduces and describes labour, globalization, and meditation will be exam- Zen Master Daehaeng Sunim’s concept of “Doing ined. Third, the meditative and durational video A Without Doing.” According to Sunim’s teachings, Laundry Woman – Yamuna River, India (2000) will “everything is naturally functioning together with- 2 Musée d’Art Moderne Saint-Etienne, ed., Kimsooja (Milano: Silvana, 2012), 19; and David Morgan, “Kimsooja and the Art of Place,” Kimsooja, 2013, accessed March 21, 2018, http://www.kimsooja.com/text/morgan_12_Place.html, para 6 3 For the purposes of this essay and to eliminate any confusion about the meaning of the word ‘universal,’ please view it in the context of Kimsooja’s work as I have outlined here. 4 Morgan, “Kimsooja and the Art of Place,” para 3. 5 Musée d’Art Moderne Saint-Etienne, ed., Kimsooja, 17. 6 Mary Jane Jacob, “Essential Empathy,” Kimsooja, 2013, accessed March 4, 2018, http://www.kimsooja.com/texts/Ja- cob_13_Essential_Empathy.html, para 5. 7 Joseph A. Camilleri, “Citizenship in a Globalizing World,” in Globalization and Identity: Cultural Diversity, Religion, and Citizenship, ed. B. Lum (London: Taylor and Francis, 2017), 22. 8 Ibid. 9 Jacob, “Essential Empathy,” para 5. 1 © Render, Carleton University Carleton University Render Volume 8 out the mistaken view of a separate doer.”10 Essen- her work – becomes an opportunity towards en- tially, the viewpoint states that every living being lightenment.14 is connected and is sharing the same body, mind, and life making them inseparable from one anoth- Sewing into Walking er. While Kimsooja is aware of and indicates the indisputability of the tensions that exist between Sewing into Walking for instance, is a “the rise of global culture and regional values,” she three-part video that shows Kimsooja performing can be seen applying the concept of ‘Doing With- different actions in three different locations out Doing’ to her work as a way to emphasize the throughout South Korea. The narrative revolves connection that human beings share on the basis of around the bottari or bundles of fabric featured in being human.11 two of the three videos. Bottari are traditional Ko- rean bedcovers which have been tied up into bun- Kimsooja was raised Catholic but grew up dles that carry household goods when travelling or in South Korea where Buddhism is the primary moving.15 The videos play on a continuous loop. religion.12 Kimsooja, from the very beginning of At the first location of Kyungju, Kimsooja is her life, then, can be said to have been immersed shown picking up traditional Korean bedcovers in both Western and Eastern ways of thinking that and tying them into bottari. Then, at Mai Moun- would have influenced and shaped her day to day tain, we watch the artist walk away from the cam- life, outlook, and artistic practice. The parallels era alongside a highway. Finally, at Yangdong Vil- that exist between the contemporary art world and lage, the artist can be seen placing a bottari in the Buddhism become clear when we take into ac- middle of a courtyard and walking away from it.16 count the contemporary view of art making as a As the landscapes are constantly changing and the way of being or becoming or as a path of discov- bottari shift from present to absent to present ery. Kimsooja’s art can be considered a path of again, it is the artist’s body that ultimately com- discovery in at least two ways.13 Since she repeat- pletes the connection between these videos as it is edly uses meditation in her art, though not neces- the most consistent aspect throughout. The overall sarily in its conventional form(s), it can be argued narrative pertains to the experience of migration that her art is her own personal path to enlighten- and the role bottari play in enabling this to happen: ment. Additionally, by paying almost exclusive first they are put together, second the travelling attention to the things that define our everyday takes place, and third they are put down at their lives while incorporating the Buddhist influence, destination. Kimsooja has been working with bot- Kimsooja creates an instance within which every tari and what they signify since 1992 and their moment – including the moment a viewer beholds consistent incorporation into her art has allowed for her to conceptualize the sewing and tying to- 10 Jin Y. Park, Makers of Modern Korean Buddhism (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2010), 229. 11 Marente Bloemheuvel, Toos van Kooten, Jan van Adrichem, and Kröller-Müller Museum, Windflower: Perceptions of Na- ture (Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2011), 102. 12 Ibid, 102 and 104. 13 Ibid, 104 and Jacob, “Essential Empathy,” para 4. 14 Morgan, “Kimsooja and the Art of Place,” para 6. 15 Deeplai Dewana and Murtaza Vali, Post Object, 18-19; and Marine Lynne Fleming, Centennial Gallery, and Oakville Gal- leries, Soo-Ja Kim: A Laundry Field – Sewing into Walking, Looking into Sewing (Oakville: Oakville Galleries, 1997), 8. 16 Deepali Dewan and Murtaza Vali, Post Object, 18-19. 1 © Render, Carleton University Carleton University Render Volume 8 gether of fabrics as a way to question and explore bedcovers function in extreme proximity to our “the relation between the “I” and the “Other,”” bodies. By bringing together the intimacy of cloth- which speaks to not only the coming together of ing and bedcovers with the utilitarian bottaris, the humanity, but the coming together of artist, art- distinction between the two becomes blurred and work, and viewer.17 their functions homogenous.

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