Swing Sewing, 2023

26 September — 01 October 2023, Art Center Ongoing, Tokyo

 

This exhibition, which stems from experiences and observations in Tokyo during the hot summer, explores the complex relationship between clothing, boundaries with others, and visual representations of space.

 

“During my stay in Tokyo, the city's vitality and soaring temperatures left an indelible mark on my body, tanning my skin. When I walked down a crowded street wearing sleeveless clothes, I felt a strange sense of alienation and anxiety. It was a feeling of discomfort that I couldn't exactly define. That subtle sense of discomfort was evident when, while waiting for a bus on the narrow streets of Kichijōji, I realized that everyone in line except me was surrounded by sleeves, scarves, and parasols, carving out their own personal space within the city. From the perspective of an outsider, it was seen as a quiet assertion of their territory and an act for protection and safety from the outside. In order to directly experience the sensation of people under a parasol, I picked up a parasol at a nearby convenience store. In Korean culture, parasols are associated with people who are vulnerable to ultraviolet rays or the middle-aged, so I opened parasols despite the awkwardness. In this seemingly ordinary act of creating my own shadow, I discovered a subtle sense of comfort and stability within myself.”

 

Based on her experiences in Tokyo, Seohee Kim notes interesting similarities and differences between the fabrics that make up the fabric of personal parasols and the properties of the clothing worn by those holding the parasols. Through her work, she examines the properties of parasols and clothing from a dichotomous perspective centered on the wearer. Parasols physically separate individuals from others without direct skin contact, while clothing adheres closely to the skin and visually differentiates each individual. During her stay in Tokyo, she actively interacted with the locals, and this required learning their language. This practice became a symbolic act of this journey, expanding one’s space to join the shade they create through their parasol, and it became the most powerful way to increase the likelihood of joining their parasol. The act of dismantling clothes to make a parasol visually conveys how the concept of personal space fluctuates depending on proximity to others. She experiments with the fluidity and adaptability of personal boundaries by dismantling the traditional spatial boundaries established by clothing and replacing them with parasols.

The title of the exhibition, ‘Swing Sewing’, reflects the rhythmic image formed by people moving with umbrellas and the shape of the frame moving freely while sewing the canopy of the parasol. In this exhibition, the audience becomes a co-creator and participates in the process of filling the parasol's canopy with pieces of fabric in their own way, contributing to creating an incomplete space together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Sound: Jaehyun Kim
Video edit: Seoyoung Kim
Graphic Design: Minjong Kim