Design March 22, 2020

THE NEW YORK TIMES STYLE MAGAZINE From the elegantly austere to the joyfully overstufed, spaces that play with volume SPACE, FORM, LINE T h made from venetian blinds and other domestic objects, works melancholy sensual, With performance. and York with an ambitious installation blending sculpture filled the atrium of the Museum of Modern Art in New Kassel, in ,Documenta and the Venice Biennaleincluding — and — she recently world the in some of the most esteemed contemporary art forums description of Yang’s overall philosophy. refershurricaneto projection well butmight as a be terms forecasting in which Uncertainty,” of Cone the “In wallpaper.likecalled dystopian is show The sinister gyres that covers vast swathes of the museum and trees palm distorted McMansions, Floridian of swirling with storm-tracking symbols, satellite photos collage digital floor-to-ceiling Solidarity,” chaotic a work for show: the Bass “Coordinates of Speculative new a produced Yang research, meteorological of displacement, isolation and community. After months identity, national and individual of themes address sculptures, room-size environments and videos often whose Korean artist, 48-year-old South the cinated one at another. “Hurricanes,”looked they said, half joking. curators The asked. she of?” think can you commonality any isn’tthere her.“But told really, they Not food? certain A holiday? particular famously multiculturalresidents have incommon.A region’s the what curators the asked Yang Beach, Miami in museum a Bass, the at presentation rent links the exhibition to the localcontext. For her cur that piece fresh a create to likes she places, new in WHEN THE ARTIST globalartist who gains her permanentlyplace.outof nothingless than create a HaegueYang’s complex senseofself from being reflections on modern modern on reflections Over the past decade, Yang’s work has appeared at The notionof violenta binding stormsas force fas lonelinesshave done newmold: the truly e Artist of Portrait by Shane LavalettePortraitShane by The artist’s work looks looks work artist’s The photographed in Miami Miami photographedin and culturalidentity. at themes including including themes at on Dec. 4, 2019. 2019. 4, Dec. on Haegue Yang, Haegue memory, loss loss memory, By Zoë LescazeZoë By Haegue Yang shows old artworks

- - grounds that their art refers to their heritage. Yang, heritage. their to refers art their that grounds born outside the United States or Europe only on the feels as though the current art world showcases people identitiesized (female, gay, nonwhite), sometimesit creating workartists marginalaroundsocially their Just as the institutions of the 1980s and ’90s seized on to represent (or perform) the cultures they came from. can mean that non-Western artists are tacitly required mance, who organized Yang’s exhibition. At its worst, it Comer,MoMA’s chiefcurator ofmediaand perfor view,reallythat mean?”does whatbut asked Stuart have a more international and cosmopolitan point of world. “Every institution now wantsart to be globalcontemporary and tothe of much define that politics Yang has managed to escape the conspicuous identity When passion and devotion goes over the border, is it time” are “sometimes too neoliberal to protect blindly. the other hand, she suggests, notions of “rest” and “free Yang “doing cigarette. be acknowledgesmight she that lot,” a a on but have and exercise the off lay to suggestion doctor’s a regard might one which with skepticism wary of sort the with greeted be to tend on four continents. Remarks on how busy she must be velocity hurricane. In 2019 alone, she was in 15 shows reduce it to a political one-liner,” said Comer. based one on gender, race or geography. “You cannot to herself tying without identity about art make to work. By embracing ambiguity, Yang has found a way her in perspective or nationality singleany embody — takes a stubbornly elliptical approach, refusing to thana few days or weeks at a time in any given place however — an artist who is not known to spend more The artist herself is likeis herself artist The ofcenter high-calm a the N owhere - -

friends. A writer whose work resonates with Yang, the single children is no few and by has and design, close feel much more confident, but not so humbled.” Yang “and here is humbleness. If I didn’t travel, I imagine I’d “Here is loneliness,” she said, pointing to one of them, page. a on circles two drew and pen a for reached lonely. diagrams, gets in Yang, communicates often who ever she if her asked I and early, solitude her mentioned She reflection. self- pensive of air an and skirt-pants YohjiYamamoto shirt, collared white a wore She over roomy a sweatshirt black institution. same the soloexhibition at a discovered a few years ago when she had parquet floors and a resplendent strudel that scuffed Yang with cafe fashioned old- an in spoke We Graz. Kunsthaus museum, art contemporary city’s the Austria, to install work in a group show at Graz, in appearance brief a made she and many her exhibitions. November, In ,professorshipa and inFrankfurt in studios her between shuttling think the confusion is good to have.” even this condition has its advantages: “I almostloseyourself,” althoughsaid,she along with the intensity of the work is you only downside is existential: “What comes The method. artistic of kind a as family erately isolating herself from friends and hercareerworking, spent delib andhas always is She condemn?” to something Lately,Yang’s keptherhassuccess -

ARTS AND LETTERS 57 58 T: THE NEW YORK TIMES STYLE MAGAZINE PEOPLE ARTS AND LETTERS rack on wheels. Tellingly, Yang, who is never in one one Tellingly, in never wheels. is on Yang,who rack garment metal a from dangling all tunnels, hamster and roots bamboo bulbs, light textiles, hand-knit natural world. A single sculpture of hers might include the and crafts traditional on goods mass-produced of effects the and labor in interest her underscores did the rapid industrialization of , which as work, her of parts intrinsic became experiences Yang was not politically engaged at the time, but these workers’the movement trade-union and after. soon her parents divorced; her mother moved away to join 1988, in return Yang’s father’s after long Not alone. brothers twin her Yangand raised activist, an then and author an became who teacher a mother, Her ing one where a Korean channel played TV onmute. turbine vents, andseveral steelgrates rooms, includ blocks, cinder of labyrinth a constructed she which in 12, Biennial Sharjah 2015 the at installation an in later, Decades East. Yang would address hisabsence Middle the in work construction find to ’80s the in sands of other South Koreans — left the thou family behindof hundreds and — he unemployment, of years testing government censorship when she was 3. After newspaperfora journalist pro firedas fromjob his was colleagues, Yang’s 160 apart. with father, along amid political upheaval that would cleave her family 26 years after the Korean Peninsula had been divided, marked her childhood. She was born in Seoul in 1971, that separations of series the from partly stems — self one’s within and neighbors between IN nations, INTEREST YANG’S belonging, Yang cannot afford to feel at home. on pay.” I meditations price producing To continue this the from “is said, stem she “Loneliness,” allure condition: nomadic enigmatic its art her give that she instability and doubt personal of what currents The to akin Germany. in years student her during alienation experienced of sense a taining that she’s found success, her biggest struggle is main now fact, it.” In creates one solitude, find not does “One said, once Duras, Marguerite novelist French contentious borders — of of — borders contentious - - - - uate application, and so, in 1994, she moved to to moved she 1994, in so, and application, uate grad her rejected school the but stayed, have would earned her B.F.A. from Seoul National University. She stands, fridge magnets, towels, tomato paste. settled somewhere: cans of artichoke hearts, umbrella household items people only acquire when they have of kinds the of use makes often long, very for place tional support. But, as Yang has noted, it also might might also it Yangnoted, as has But, support. tional longwaycareera whosewas offfromartist institu ouslyself-important gesture from obscurean young of Haegue Archives,” might be read as ironic: a humor mug with her name written on it. The piece, “Anthology date, including a plaster cast of her hand and an Ikea to work her of selection a was Inside specimens. or case on metal legs, the kind that might display artifacts to state embrace, a not move is beyond. emphasizes, often she Vulnerability, strength to sympathize with the others,” unusual the she once said.mobilize can one alienation the of out remaincreatively beneficial for Yang: “Ibelieve that ablecommunicateto effectively locala as pass toor core of her practice. The embarrassments of not being uncomfortable as this period was, it arguably forms the toa gallery wall, was an exercise in self-exposure. As which she presented on a plain typewritten page taped Understood.” The fractured, confessional document, MakeMyself to How on Study A — Communication of “Science called 2000 from piece text early an in wrote crack,”she a had it if as incompleteness, by characterized were language, German the like of use my person, my if as feeling the have “I transit. in realize that selves are fragile — things they can break Yang made milieu, white homogeneous a in woman she experienced, not just linguistically but as an Asian difficulties The institutions. and languages,customs European about knew she little how expose would interactions simplest the even and German, speak anoutsider. as her identity Shearrived barely able to of genesis the formative: deeply but harrowing was Frankfurt to attend the Städelschule. The experience Yang knew she wanted to be an artist early on, and For her thesis show in 1998, Yang presented a large references to geopolitical events. events. geopolitical to references atrium of the Museum of Modern of Modern Museum of atrium the Art in New York, which includes includes York, which New in Art Yang’s 2019 installation in the the in installation 2019 Yang’s mobile sculptures and subtle subtle and sculptures mobile - - -

theater. Fliers atop the table offered musings about about musings offered table the theater. atop Fliers a from bench a and friend a from borrowed chair neglected a alongside Frankfurt of streets the from salvaged she table small a involves (2000) Satie” Union Students’ — Objects “Furnitury work, early but linger on, out of step with their surroundings. One usefulness their lost have that objects for affection an in manifested themes these Often displacement. of feelings perpetual her on commentary running a became art her and level, personal a on effects its about society.” ent ambivalent Yang remained Still, biography,”differ very a became “Europe said. she that merging of cultures hadsuchabig impactonmy but thing, shallow,trendy a such was it if as world’ ‘globalized a about talk “We interconnected. ingly the Warpost-Cold moment itself, which was increas makefor name herself. frommodest a benefited She cades were becoming more porous, and she began to 1999, in however, world’sbarri and art borders the he was seen an as first, artist an Asian second. artist wasn’t painted by Orientalism,” she said, meaning that serves meals for large audiences, “was the only one who who is known for performances in which he cooks and models were scarce. The Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, didn’tunheard-of.just cally “It exist,” Role said. she art-world recognition anAsianwoman as was practi grant artist” at a moment when gaining international have“an been ofact self-empowerment by immi an muses on being both geographically and existentially the ceiling surrounding a video trilogy in which Yang from hung blinds venetian Black Room.” Blind — displacement in “Series of Vulnerable Arrangements the São Paulo Biennial, Yang considered her perpetual tion tour she’s been on ever since. That same year, at our shared inability to keep things from ending. turestapped a universal pain — of loss, of change, of might have felt like anintrusion,butYang’s subtle ges they wanted. It was a work so personal that being there housewith codea and stay there alone for long as as derelictthe withinrooms. theVisitors unlock could stars origami delicate of clusters and fan oscillating an lights, rack, foldingmirrors,laundry a intact and wallpaper and holes in the ceiling. Yang placed broken a decade. It was a ruin, with missing windows, peeling organizing talks for the Frankfurt Book Fair. job full-time a got and practice her back scaled She Yang debt, “struggled had she enough.” that decided in and Demoralized pallets. shipping atop stacked tion:“Storage Piece,” of work, full her pileof a crates that inadvertently gave rise to her first major installa dilemma a — pieces new of production the fund or work previous her store to afford could gallery the Yang neither By 2004, sell. to often failed pieces nor the but fairs, to work her taking began and 2000 in Wien gave Barbara Yang showsolo Berlin first in her dealer The Satie. by Erik compositions ambient and owners, approaches to furnishing institutional spaces their of expressions as belongings about roundings, tooverlookour capacity banalelementsof oursur By the time Yang from graduated the Städelschule The piece also began the seemingly endless exhibi One of Yang’s first big comeback pieces, and the one house, abandoned for nearly nearly for abandoned house, old grandmother’s late her inside Korea, South in city port a Incheon, in place took which 30,” “Sadong 2006’s that launched her career, was ------

HAEGUE YANG, “HANDLES,” 2019, INSTALLATION VIEW OF 6 SONIC SCULPTURES, SOUND, WALL AND FLOOR ELEMENT, COMMISSIONED FOR THE MARRON ATRIUM BY THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK, PHOTO BY DAWN BLACKMAN, IMAGE COURTESY OF THE ARTIST, GREENE NAFTALI, NEW YORK AND MOMA FROM TOP: HAEGUE YANG, “SADONG 30,” 2006, INSTALLATION VIEW, LIGHT BULBS, STROBES, LIGHT CHAINS, MIRROR, ORIGAMI OBJECTS, DRYING RACK, FABRIC, FAN, VIEWING TERRACE, COOLER, MINERAL-WATER BOTTLES, CHRYSANTHEMUMS, GARDEN BALSAMS, WOODEN BENCH, WALL CLOCK, FLUORESCENT PAINT, WOODPILES, SPRAY PAINT, IV STAND IN AN ABANDONED HOME IN INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA, PHOTO BY DAENAM KIM, IMAGE COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND GREENE NAFTALI, NEW YORK; HAEGUE YANG, “STORAGE PIECE,” 2004, INSTALLATION VIEW, WRAPPED AND STACKED ART WORKS, EURO PALLETS, DIMENSIONS VARIABLE, HAUBROK COLLECTION, BERLIN, PHOTO BY LAWRENCE O’HANA GALLERY, IMAGE COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND GREENE NAFTALI, NEW YORK complaining,” she said. she complaining,” keeps who someone be to want don’t I [time] same the at but critical be to want “I ambivalently. what to come industry,the some within if position embrace her also has she but job, the with come that functions social obligatory the of some from gusted” doesn’tshe “depressed”home come still “disand else.” anywhere isn’tfind This say to you cannot that tolerance more much “so with voices” minor many so for shelter a often also is this time, same the “at but “parasitic,” and “vain” be might world art The said. it,” she regain I then but faith, my losing keep art “I figures. at six for sell pieces larger presence her where fairs, ubiquitous a are works her and continents three on galleries by represented is She her own security or her own confidence.” on her own terms. “She always creates conditions for of radical things,” he said, to engage with the art world not be bought with fancy dinners. “She did these kind from the tongue,” she told him, meaning that she could me hold will “Nobody it. did she why her asked he very provocative gesture,” said Ortega. After the meal, a was “It rice. of bowl single Yang a but just ordered City.restaurant, ceviche “beautiful” a went Theyto dealers, the owners of Kurimanzutto gallery, in Mexico confidants, recalls going to dinner with Yang and his few her of one became and Biennial Paulo São the The Mexican who met Yang Damián Ortega, artist at away. was she while off and on switch to rigged she in it except a futon on the floor and a lighting system she finally moved, her apartmentBerlin had nothing her intellectual edge. Until a year and a half ago, when blunt might it in participating whether questioning becoming suspicious of the commercial art world and SAME THE AT people and of willful isolation. and exposure,obscurity symbols of contact between natureIn work, her for they are materials. metaphors the public and privatebetween realms, remain one barriers of Yang’s sig permeable blinds, The gia. nostal and discomfort sensuality, of notes shifting with space the suffused air-conditioner an and ters emit scent heater, infrared an humidifier, A lost. Today, Yang has made peace with the market. market. the with peace made has Yang Today, time her stature was rising, Yang was rising, was stature her time - - - - - ple like alwaysBarbara believing in her.” able to psychologically maintain herself without peo to credit Barbara because Haegue wouldn’t have been Pavilion that Yang was a part of in 2009, said, “We had . Eungie Joo, who curated the Korean the at of presentations one her directlyas such fund, not did dealer the projects for acknowledgments to continues work, of the her in champion early She Wien, an include all. and tantrums her, support iar, but it’s alien.” And Yang is loyal to the people who said: “You never know what it is, exactly. It feels famil worth is ence for it rare the effect of Yang’s work, she the group show, in dismissed these complaints. The experi participate and back come to who Yang invited Steiner, again.” Haegue with work colleagues who told me they will never, ever curated Yang’s solo exhibition there. “I have Steiner, the director of Kunsthaus Graz, who Barbara said it,” stand can everyone not and demanding very her.“She’s challenge who ones the are best likes she curators The exhibitions. planning is she when “inhumane” critical,” said. she’she very because depressed totally day next the spend I and her meet I “Sometimes agreed. emphatically Ortega friend.” my be to job tough a “It’s said. she them,” enjoy couldn’t I if even things those endure to used “I ago. time long a friends, close of those even dings, wed and birthdays to invitations accepting stopped Yang — engagements professional just It’snot said. she celebrating,” at good so not “I’m Muskateller. tured at the crowd of people Gelber of sipping glasses “like my job is done and I should disappear.” She ges feltirrelevant everopenings,show: atfirst her since the throng aroundfrom the bar, possible she told meas that she away has always far as there, Crouched a room overlooking the otherwise quaint Austrian city. small leather a sofa at theon end of a long, glassyperched black bubble ofparty the spent she art museum, typical the with than Star Death the with ally a Graz, futuristicKunsthaus space thatat has more in common architecturexhibition group the of ing awkward, participant in art world rituals. At the open Evenso, Yang remains a grudging, and sometimes Yang is the first to admit she can be manic and and manic be can she admit to first the is Yang Above: Yang’s 2006 installation installation Yang’s 2006 Above: a sculptural installation of some some of installation sculptural a of her older artworks that have have that artworks older her of home in Incheon, South Korea. Korea. South Incheon, in home “Sadong 30,” in an abandoned 30,” abandoned an “Sadong in Yang’s 2004 “Storage Piece,” “Storage Yang’s2004 been wrapped and stacked. stacked. and wrapped been ------act as messengers between the human and spirit spirit and human the between messengers as act ears to listen to ghosts.” Rattles in hand, the shamans into rattles. These instruments, said Yang, “train their spoons and other jetsam — which they melt and recast will go door to door begging for unwanted metal — old slowing down. about think to fast too moving usually day.is Yang a than less in leave would she city the at off stared it but. maintain can I far So this. only doing continue can I don’t if “I know Graz. in cafe the at aloud wondered she back?” something give and this all digest really I “Can production. and travel of levels current her of sustaining capable is she whether questions times clysmic present. ofandwhispers can hearechoes thepast cata technology,narrative, and abstraction one which in works contain unlikely conversations, between craft, worlds. In a way, Yang is also a kind of translator — her Korean shamanism, Yang told me. Shamans in training to allude Theywent unexplained. bells the text, but elements These were illuminated in the nearby wall Korea. South and ofleadersNorth between the tion while attempting to record a recent private conversa The chirps were inadvertently captured by reporters Korean composer Isang Yun — and to political events. the Eastern-European mystic G. Taeuber-Arp, Sophie polymath Swiss the — figures historical to references cryptic with laced also was installation the But by). jingled sculptures the as ion I’ve ever seen at MoMA,” one man said to his compan thing strangest the is (“This regulars even and ists, speakers overhead. of unfoldingprocess itself. the Audio in of chirping was birds played creature through origami elaborate fanned across the floor and up the walls, polygons as though an vinyl iridescent and black of Trails arcs. danced the wheeled pieces around the space in lilting performers Five bells. spherical gleaming, of sands menagerie of large abstract sculptures covered in thou ple were looking at Yang’s installation in the atrium: a ON A RECENT For all her momentum and ambition, Yang some Yang ambition, and momentum her all For The hypnotic was spectacle enough tostoptour

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. what then? I don’t I know.then? what don’t . I know.” She afternoon at MoMA, more than 100 peo 100 than more MoMA, at afternoon

I. Gurdjieff, the exiled ------

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