KUB Arena 2013.04 | Press information Sung Hwan Kim | Dogr I will dress you, howl bowel owl 19|10|2013- 12|01|2014
Curator Yilmaz Dziewior and Scott Cameron Weaver
Press Conference on Thursday, May 08, 2014, 11 a.m.
The exhibition is opened for the press at 10 a.m.
Opening Friday, May 09, 2014, 7 p.m.
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The work of Korean-born, New York-based artist, Sung Hwan Kim, exists happily and flirtatiously between the realms of reality and fiction. Kim is a storyteller whose tales are interwoven with a unique amalgamation of film, sculpture, poetry, architecture, music, performance, and masquerade. The artist himself simultaneously occupies the roles of author, director, and performer, and his work culminates in visually stunning yet intimate installations that address such complex thematics as cultural heritage and queer identity.
Kim’s project in the KUB Arena begins with the sound piece, Howl Bowel Owl. Created, during his recent sabbati- cal, as a radio drama for the Bayerischer Rundfunk, in col- laboration with musician David Michael DeGregorio aka dogr, Kim’s atmospheric audio narrative employs stylistic devices of imitation, repetition, and rhythm, inspired in part by the works of poet Rainer Maria Rilke. For Howl Bowel Owl Kim employed a poetic device he found in some of Rilke’s poems, where words are combined out of pure similarity in the way they sound when spoken and less for any reasons of content. Kim’s interest in Rilke arose from reading philosopher Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space. A central aspect of Bachelard’s notion of the poetic is the image of space for memories and imagination in the human consciousness. Kim’s work reflects Rilke’s fascina- tion with dreams, stories, myths, and their transformation into language and form.
The KUB Arena will become the setting for Kim’s explora- tion of the possibilities inherent in the immaterial means of light and sound. Not only the visual, but also the alle- gorical potential of theatrical lighting techniques introduc- es an entirely new perceptual dimension to the work Howl Bowel Owl. Through both intellectual and emotional means, the KUB Arena will be transformed into a mesmerizing, visual and acoustic landscape in which Kim’s radio drama enfolds, where visitors are both observers and active par- ticipants in his immersive installation. The lighting design, realized with the support of and collaborative efforts of Zumtobel, will allow Kim to experiment with different techniques in lighting technology, and offer different set- tings for various guest performers to enter and engage with the KUB Arena environment.
Initially Sung Hwan Kim studied architecture at Seoul Na- tional University, followed by a BA in Mathematics and Art at Williams College, Williamstown (2000), subsequently a Master of Science in Visual Studies at MIT, and a residency at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam (2004–2005). His in- terest in architecture is still strongly visible in his installa- tions, which combine space, image, and sound into an allo- ver experience. After recent solo exhibitions at the
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Kunsthalle Basel (2011), the Queens Museum, New York (2011), Haus der Kunst, Munich (2010), and Witte de With, Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (2009), his presentation at the KUB Arena is his first solo project in Austria.
Text: Scott Cameron Weaver
Program Sung Hwan Kim | Dogr I will dress you, howl bowel owl
ICE — International Contemporary Ensemble — Concert Saturday, May 10, 8 p.m. The renowned International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) will transform Sung Hwan Kim’s installation in the KUB Arena into a concert hall. With 10 of New York’s fin- est musicians, ICE will premiere new compositions by leg- endary American composer, John Zorn, based on the liter- ary works of Shakespeare and Baudelaire, among others. Ticket: 9 EUR
Sung Hwan Kim and David Michael DiGregorio aka dogr Friday, July 4, 7:30 p.m. Kim and DiGregorio’s extended stay in Bregenz will culmi- nate in a new performance work designed specifically for the very special mise en scène at the KUB Arena. With original music written for a male choir, sculptural interven- tions, and new manipulations of the lighting design, the evening will be a magnificent, sensory event to mark the last weekend of the exhibition.
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Biography Sung Hwan Kim |dogr
Sung Hwan Kim 1975 | Born in South Korea 2003 | Master of Science in Visual Studies, MIT (Massachu- setts Institute of Technology), Cambridge, US 2000 | BA Mathematics and Art, Williams College, William- stown, US 1995-96 | Architecture, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea Lives and works in New York City
Selected Solo Exhibitions (forthcoming*) 2014 | Artsonje Centre, Seoul, Korea* 2012 | East Tank, The Tanks at Tate Modern, London 2011 | Line Wall, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland From the Commanding Heights…*, Queens Museum, New York 2010 | Golden Times, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany | One From in the Room, with dogr (David Michael Di- Gregorio), New | Museum, New York 2009 | Pieces From ‘In the Room’, Wilkinson Gallery, Lon- don 2008 | Sung Hwan Kim, Witte de With - Centre for Con- temporary Art, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (cat.)
Selected Group Exhibitions 2011 | The Other Tradition curated by Elena Filipovic, Wiels, Brussels 2010-11 | Manifesta 8, Murcia, Spain 2009 | Art Premier, Art Basel, Switzerland (with Joan Jo- nas) | When Things Cast No Shadow, 5th Berlin Biennial, KW Institute of | Contemporary Art, Germany | Thermocline of Art, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
Publications/Writing 2011 ‘Ki-da Rilke’ (Artist’s book), Kunsthalle Basel and Sternberg Press 2010 ‘When things are done again’, tranzitdisplay ‘Where do you come from’, Parabol, curated by Yilmaz Dziewior 2009 ‘Artist Source Book: Sung Hwan Kim’, Witte de With 2008 ‘Night Stars’, New York Magazine, Dec 22-29, p.60 dogr dogr (David Michael DiGregorio) is a musician currently based in New York. He studied piano, baroque music, and harpsichord. He made 16-mm motion pictures inspired by Structuralism and the idea of film as musical composition. This, combined with the influence of choral traditional gospel, pop, Korean and American folk, and performing
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electro-acoustic music, his work creates a tectonic space through layers of voice and performance of melismatic storytelling. dogr has collaborated extensively since 2006 with artist Sung Hwan Kim, and has worked with artists such as Jewyo Rhii, Danai Anesiadou, choreographer/dancer Martín Lanz Landázuri and opera singer Elizabeth Baker.
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List of work on show
Sung Hwan Kim & dogr I will dress you, howl bowel owl, (2014) Installation with sound and light 33 minutes (loop)
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Partner and Sponsors Kunsthaus Bregenz would like to thank its partners for their generous financial support and the cultural commitment that goes along with it.
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Venue | Organizer Kunsthaus Bregenz
Director | Curator Yilmaz Dziewior
Chief Executive Werner Döring
Curator Rudolf Sagmeister
Curator of the KUB Arena Scott Cameron Weaver
Marketing | Sponsorship Birgit Albers | ext. -413 [email protected]
Press | Online Media Martina Feurstein | ext. -410 [email protected]
Press photos to download www.kunsthaus-bregenz.at
Art Education Kirsten Helfrich | ext.-417 [email protected]
Publications | Editions Katrin Wiethege | ext.-411 [email protected]
Sales Editions Caroline Schneider | ext.-444 [email protected]
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