01 portada catalogo hye rim lee_DEF.FH11

HYERIMLEE
HYERIMLEE
Photography, Paul Nathan, 2008
HYERIMLEE
CATÁLOGO
Arte Contemporáneo GACMA
Textos críticos
Juan Antonio Álvarez Reyes
Director
Cecilio Rodríguez / José Luis Rodríguez
Fotografías
© Hye Rim Lee
© GACMA, Kukje Gallery, Starkwhite Gallery,
Galerie Volker Diehl, Max Lang.
Marketing y Comunicación
Antonella Montinaro
Diseño gráfico
tuimagina
Impresión
Lozano Impresores
Traducción al inglés y alemán
Sande Sistemas de Información
Traducción al italiano
Maria Teresa Manganaro
Edición
© Arte Contemporáneo GACMA 2008
Fidias, 48
29003 Málaga
www.gacma.com
[email protected]
© SEPHA Edición y Diseño, S.L., 2008
Biedmas, 4
29008 Málaga
www.editorialsepha.com
[email protected]
AGRADECIMIENTOS:
Nuestro especial agradecimiento al artista
Hye Rim Lee, Suzie Kim, Dominic Feuchs,
Jan Frontzek y Chris Choi.
Colaboran: Diario El Mundo Málaga, La
Opinión de Málaga, ADN y Málaga Hoy.
Noviembre 2008
ISBN: 978-84-96764-47-7
Depósito Legal:
Producción y montaje
Francisco Rodríguez
Catálogo publicado en ocasión de la exposición "Hye Rim Lee" en 2008, en la galería GACMA de Málaga. Esta
edición contiene una escultura múltiple en resina, numerada y firmada por el autor con textos de Juan Antonio
Álvarez Reyes.
Edición total de 55 ejemplares
-50 ejemplares con escultura multiple en resina de 28 cm de altura numerada y firmada por el autor desde 1/50
hasta el 50/50
-5 ejemplares con escultura multiple en resina de 28 cm de altura numerada y firmada por el autor desde I/V
hasta el V/V
Catalog published for the "Hye Rim Lee" exhibition in 2008, at Gallery GACMA of Málaga. This edition contains
a sculpture multiple in resin, numbered and signed by the author and texts by Juan Antonio Álvarez Reyes.
Total edition of 55 copies
- 50 copies with a sculpture multiple in resin of 28 cm tall numbered and signed by the author since 1/100 to
100/100
- 5 copies with a sculpture multiple in resin of 28 cm tall numbered and signed by the author since I/V hasta el
V/V
Catalogo pubblicato in occasione dell' esposizione "Hye Rim Lee" nel 2008, presso la Galleria GACMA di Málaga.
Questa edizione contiene una scultura multiple in resina, numerata e firmata dall' autore e testi di Juan Antonio
Álvarez Reyes.
Edizione totale di 55 esemplari
-50 esemplari con una scultura multiple in resina alta 28 cm numerata e firmata dall' autore,
dal 1/50 fino al 50/50
-5 esemplari con una scultura multiple in resina alta 28 cm numerata e firmata dall' autore,
dal I/V hasta el V/V
Katalog, veröffentlicht anlässlich der Ausstellung "Hye Rim Lee"
2008 in der Galerie GACMA in Malaga. Diese Edition enthält eine mehrteilige Skulptur aus Harz, durchnummeriert
und vom Autor unterschrieben, mit Texten von Juan Antonio Álvarez Reyes.
Gesamtauflage 55 Exemplare
-50 Exemplare mit mehrteiliger Skulptur in Harz 28 cm Höhe, durchnummeriert und vom Autor unterschrieben,
von 1/50 bis 50/50
-5 Exemplare mit mehrteiliger Skulptur in Harz 28 cm Höhe, durchnummeriert und vom Autor unterschrieben, von
I/V bis V/V
HYE
RIM
LEE
critical texts
textos críticos
testi critici
kritische texte
juan antonio álvarez reyes
Animated myths for the new millennium(1)
Juan Antonio Álvarez Reyes
The history of animation is already a hundred years old(2), and we could even say that
it is a media that pre-dates cinema, but starts out on its great pathway along side it. If
different "machines" and creations were soon able to give movement to drawings and
images and end up providing what was called "optical theater", the discovery of the
photogram to photogram projection technique, together with simple tricks using the
film and recording and projection devices, made emergence easier for a great evolution
of a media and of a genre that has always had one foot anchored in the cinematic and
entertainment industry and the other in artistic and avant-garde productions. Even
though we traditionally associate animation with Walt Disney and his empire (although
Japanese Anime is also present) animation has a vast history that has been linked to
the artistic and visual avant-garde, making up perhaps one of the last media to be
explored on the path to assimilation that modern art and museums have started out on
decades ago, firstly with photography and then with cinema.
In a world dominated by visual culture development of specific computer programs has
made expansion and use of this media extremely easy for a number of artists who,
raised in the entertainment industry (based firstly on animation) and then educated with
videogames, use the tools currently available for narrating today's stories. Animation
brings reality down a few notches, even though it doesn't eliminate it totally, which then
opens the door to fiction, in each and every one of its variants. Animation has also
recently expanded into new territories. Therefore it should not be unexpected that it has
also come into the artistic scene. This is due to several things: The first one has to do
with the history of animation, spread over more than one hundred years, and its
approximations to avant-garde art and experimental cinema during different periods of
the twentieth century. During different times of the twentieth century and in different
places in the World there have been important animators who have had a clear-cut
experimental and avant-garde vocation. Therefore there is a historic tradition that has
marked this close relationship between visual arts and animation. On the other hand
is the tight link with cinema and, above all, with some of the innovative experiences
born in this field. So then it is not rare, at a time such as ours, in which screens (public
(1) Text based on essays published at the four exhibits I have been curator for in the last years in the area of modern art: Sesiones animadas (CAAM, Las Palmas y MNCARS,
Madrid 2005), Historias Animadas (Caixaforum, Barcelona, Sala Rekalde, Bilbao and Le Fresnoy, Tourcoing, 2006-2007), Fantasmagoría (Fundación ICO, Madrid, 2007)
and Geopolíticas de la animación (CAAC, Sevilla y MARCO, Vigo, 2007-2008). The title refers to an essay by Antonia Levi.
(2) For example, please see these two histories of animation: Giannalberto Bendazzi, Cartoons. 110 years of animation cinema. Madrid, Ocho y Medio, 2003. Or Jerry Beck
(Ed.), Animation Art. From Pencil to Pixel, The History of Cartoon, Anime & CGI. London, Flame Tree Publishing, 2004.
cinema) would take over today's museums and art centers, the media that has our
attention also occupies an important part of them. During the last decade, together with
cinema, an authentic boom of an old media has occurred due to the fact that it is closely
and intimately related: drawing has been profusely used, exhibited and reclaimed. So,
how do we combine them? How do we bring video-cinema and drawing together? Well,
the answer seems logical and simple: by using "animated drawing".
So then, what would the use of animation provide? To start with, to a large degree, it
suspends reality and leads the viewer into a different world, taking away his prohibitions
about the order of things and allowing him not only fantasy, tales or fiction, but by using
these, and once the viewers open up, it makes an introduction to symbolism and allegory
easier. A large part of this is due to our innate inclination and opening up to this media
(that was constructed and fomented since childhood). On the other hand it allows us
to step over that reality and not have to be limited by it regarding the physicality of the
world: the artist is not limited and limitless possibilities are opened up before him, almost
to the same degree as they are possible in his mind. Lastly, using it in the current artistic
scene is a practice that is permeable from a critical point of view, from things ironic,
sweet, crazy or even tragic. The possibilities that this hundred-year-old language offer
are rediscovered and they find in our world one of the decisive moments of their history,
especially in the territory of modern art and thanks to the continuous dissolution of the
boundaries between reality and fiction.
Animation does not only perceive the world differently, but also creates other worlds by
using two powerful tools: fantasy and imagination. Could we conceive, today, by way
of animation, a new claim on imagination and fantasy in the current art world, one that
would allow for a critical attitude toward the World and that, at the same time, is aware
of the powerful mechanisms involved in its construction and usage? The answer is yes.
This is seen in works and careers of people like William Kentridge or Kara Walker, but
also with animation that is less povera, from the field of 3D technologies, Hye Rim Lee
is involved in critical exploration of questions dealing with modern visual culture from
a complex point of view in which different approaches are used that come from post
colonialism and geoaesthetics, feminism and social and cultural stereotypes
Antonia Levi(3), by studying current Japanese animation, has commented that the creation
of new myths is one of the basic issues in the new millennium. Hye Rim Lee also
believes, as she does, in the construction of narrations regarding the new cyberfeminism
(3) Antonia Levi, "New Myths for the Millennium: Japanese Animation", publicado en John A. Lent (edit), Animation in Asia and the Pacific. Indiana University Press, 2001.
mythologies along with the culture of videogames. The artist is conscious of the "I am
where I think" that Walter D. Mignolo(4) has studied with such detail by pointing out the
importance of the geopolitical aspect of knowledge and by aiming for a state of "global
coloniality". Therein lays the need to analyze those myths that take part in the images
of things feminine, of sexuality, of the culture of children, of exotism and cultural
stereotypes that the mass media reflect and impose. Among that mass media are,
without a doubt, animations and videogames.
Maureen Furniss(5), while analyzing the cultural differences, has written "when we talk
of representation in animated films, in most cases, we focus on what appears on the
screen. However, we should be interested just as much, or even more, in what does
not appear". In her feminist analysis of representation (beyond a catalogue of racist and
sexist works), Furniss believes that up until now there has not been "a better way of
representing femininity and the issues relating to women" in animated works. In any
case, Hye Rim Lee seems to adhere to the masculine and Western stereotypes regarding
the female body and sexuality in order to change her stories (as she does with Candyland).
So, in the game of combining and changing supposed naiveties that she uses in her
videos, there is an intelligent union of two elements that are constitutive of animation
itself in what regards cultural construction. To know: on one hand animations have been
associated with an audience made up of children for decades. On the other, during the
last decade, production of animated pornography has blasted off. Therefore, this iconic
interrelationship that the artist has done in pieces such as Crystal City Spun (2007) and
Crystal City (2008) is appropriate, since it combines apparently contradictory items: the
culture of children, masculine desire, geocultural stereotypes and sex all in a media
(animation) in which all these elements have been present during its already long history
in constructing new and different myths.
(4) Walter D. Mignolo, Local Histories/Global Designs. Princeton University Press, 2000.
(5) Maureen Furniss, Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics. John Libbey Publisher, 2008.
Mitos animados para el nuevo milenio(1)
Juan Antonio Álvarez Reyes
La historia de la animación es ya centenaria(2), incluso se podría decir que es un medio
que comienza con anterioridad al cine, pero que alcanza el inicio de su gran desarrollo
con él. Es decir, si diversas "máquinas" e ingenios consiguieron pronto dar movimiento
a dibujos e imágenes y acabar propiciando lo que se denominó como "teatro óptico",
el descubrimiento de la técnica de proyección fotograma a fotograma, junto a sencillos
trucos con las películas y los aparatos de grabación y de proyección, facilitaron el
surgimiento y una pronta gran evolución de un medio y de un género que ha tenido
siempre un pie en la industria cinematográfica y del entretenimiento y otro en la
producción artística y de vanguardia. Aunque tradicionalmente asociemos los dibujos
animados a Walt Disney y a su imperio (también al anime japonés), la animación posee
una amplia historia que ha estado ligada a la vanguardia artística y visual, conformando
quizás uno de los últimos medios por explorar en el camino de asimilación que el arte
contemporáneo y los museos emprendieron hace unas décadas en relación primero
con la fotografía y después con el cine.
En un mundo dominado por la cultura visual, el desarrollo de programas informáticos
específicos ha facilitado la expansión y la utilización de este medio por numerosos
artistas, que nacidos en la industria del entretenimiento, basada primero en los dibujos
animados, y educados posteriormente en los videojuegos, utilizan estas herramientas
puestas actualmente a su disposición para narrar historias actuales. La animación
rebaja el nivel de realidad, aunque no la elimina del todo, lo que abre la puerta a la
ficción con todas sus variantes. Recientemente, además, la animación no deja de
expandirse por nuevos territorios. No es de extrañar, por tanto, que haya entrado
también en el escenario artístico. Esto ha sido así por varias razones. La primera tiene
que ver con la propia historia de la animación, con sus más de cien años de historia,
y sus aproximaciones en distintos periodos del siglo pasado al arte de vanguardia y
al cine experimental. Ha habido importantes realizadores de animación con una clara
vocación experimental y vanguardista durante distintos momentos del XX y en lugares
bien diferentes del planeta. Existe, por tanto, una tradición histórica que ha marcado
esa cercanía y proximidad entre las artes plásticas y la animación. Por otro lado está
(1) Texto basado en los ensayos publicados en las cuatro exposiciones que sobre la animación en el ámbito del arte contemporáneo he comisariado en los últimos años:
Sesiones animadas (CAAM, Las Palmas y MNCARS, Madrid 2005), Historias Animadas (Caixaforum, Barcelona, Sala Rekalde, Bilbao y Le Fresnoy, Tourcoing, 2006-2007),
Fantasmagoría (Fundación ICO, Madrid, 2007) y Geopolíticas de la animación (CAAC, Sevilla y MARCO, Vigo, 2007-2008). El título hace referencia a un ensayo de Antonia
Levi.
(2) Ver, por ejemplo, estas dos historias de la animación: Giannalberto Bendazzi, Cartoons. 110 años de cine de animación. Madrid, Ocho y Medio, 2003. O bien, Jerry
Beck (Ed.), Animation Art. From Pencil to Pixel, The History of Cartoon, Anime & CGI. Londres, Flame Tree Publishing, 2004.
la estrecha relación con el cine y, sobre todo, con algunas experiencias innovadoras
provenientes de este campo. No es raro, por tanto, que en un momento como el actual,
en el que las pantallas (el cine de exposición) acaparan las salas de los museos y
centros de arte actuales, el medio que nos ocupa tenga también una importante
presencia en ellos. Además, junto al cine de exposición, también en la última década
se ha producido un auténtico auge de un viejo medio, el dibujo, que por su inmediatez
y cercanía ha sido profusamente utilizado, expuesto y reivindicado. ¿Cómo combinarlos?
¿Cómo aunar vídeo-cine y dibujo? Pues la respuesta parece lógica y sencilla: mediante
el "dibujo animado".
¿Qué aportaría, entonces, la utilización de la animación? Para empezar, suspende, en
gran medida, la realidad y adentra al espectador en un mundo diferente, desarmándole
de sus prevenciones sobre el orden de las cosas y permitiendo no sólo la fantasía, la
fabulación o la ficción, sino que a través de ellas y ante la bajada de barreras por parte
del público, facilita la introducción de lo simbólico y alegórico. Esto es así en gran parte
por nuestra predisposición innata y apertura hacia este medio (en tanto construida y
fomentada desde la infancia). Por otro lado, posibilita traspasar esa realidad, no tener
que atenerse a ella en cuanto a la fisicidad del mundo: es decir, no limita al artista y
le abre posibilidades ilimitadas, tantas casi como fueran posibles en su mente. Por
último, su utilización en la escena artística actual es una práctica permeable con el
sentido crítico desde la ironía, la dulzura, lo disparatado o lo trágico. Las posibilidades
de este lenguaje centenario son redescubiertas y encuentran en nuestros días uno de
los momentos álgidos de su historia, especialmente en el terreno del arte contemporáneo
y por la continua disolución de las fronteras entre la realidad y la ficción.
La animación permite no sólo percibir el mundo de manera distinta, sino también crear
otros diferentes mediante dos herramientas poderosas: la fantasía y la imaginación.
¿Se puede concebir hoy, mediante la animación, una reivindicación de la imaginación
y la fantasía en el arte actual, que permita una actitud crítica ante el mundo y que sea,
a su vez, consciente de los mecanismos de poder en su construcción y utilización? La
respuesta es afirmativa y se puede comprobar en obras y trayectorias como en las de
William Kentridge o Kara Walker, pero también, desde una animación menos povera,
desde el campo de la tecnología 3D, Hye Rim Lee se implica en la exploración crítica
de asuntos relacionados con la cultura visual contemporánea desde una óptica compleja
en la que participan diferentes enfoques provenientes del postcolonialismo y la
geoestética, el feminismo y los estereotipos sociales y culturales.
Antonia Levi(3), al estudiar la animación japonesa actual, ha comentado que la creación
de nuevos mitos es uno de los asuntos fundamentales en el nuevo milenio. Para Hye
Rim Lee también, como ella mismo afirma al construir narraciones en relación con las
nuevas mitologías cyberfeministas y con la cultura de los videojuegos. La artista es
conciente del "soy de donde pienso", que tan detenidamente ha estudiado Walter D.
Mignolo(4) al señalar la importancia de la geopolítica del conocimiento y al apuntar hacia
un estado de "colonialidad global". De ahí, entonces, la necesidad de analizar esos
mitos que participan de las imágenes de lo femenino, de la sexualidad, de la cultura
infantil, del exotismo y de los estereotipos culturales que los medios de masas reflejan
e imponen. Y, entre esos medios de masas, están sin duda los dibujos animados y los
videojuegos.
Maureen Furniss(5), por su parte, al analizar las diferencias culturales, ha escrito que
"cuando hablamos de representación en películas animadas, en la mayoría de los
casos, nos fijamos en lo que aparece en pantalla. Sin embargo, debería interesarnos
tanto o más lo que no aparece". En el análisis feminista que hace de la representación
-más allá de un catálogo de obras racistas y machistas-, Furniss cree que no existe
hasta el momento "una forma mejor de representar la feminidad y las cuestiones relativas
de las mujeres" en los trabajos de animación. En cualquier caso, Hye Rim Lee parece
apropiarse de los estereotipos sexuales masculinos y occidentales sobre el cuerpo
femenino y sobre la sexualidad para alterar sus historias -como hace en Candyland-.
Así, en el juego de combinación y alteración de supuestas ingenuidades que emplea
en sus vídeos, hay una inteligente unión de dos elementos que son constitutivos de
la animación en sí misma en tanto que construcción cultural. A saber: por un lado, los
dibujos animados han estado asociados durante décadas a un público infantil; por
otro, en la última década, se ha disparado la producción de pornografía animada.
Resulta, por tanto, adecuada esta interrelación icónica que la artista realiza en piezas
como Crystal City Spun (2007) y Crystal City (2008), en tanto que mezcla estados
aparentemente contradictorios: la cultura infantil, el deseo masculino, los estereotipos
geoculturales y el sexo a través de un medio, la animación, en el que todos estos
elementos han estado ahí presentes a lo largo de su ya larga historia en la construcción
de diferentes y nuevos mitos.
(3) Antonia Levi, "New Myths for the Millennium: Japanese Animation", publicado en John A. Lent (edit), Animation in Asia and the Pacific. Indiana University Press, 2001.
(4) Walter D. Mignolo, Local Histories/Global Designs. Princeton University Press, 2000.
(5) Maureen Furniss, Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics. John Libbey Publisher, 2008.
Miti animati per il nuevo millennio(1).
Juan Antonio Álvarez Reyes
La storia dell'animazione è ormai centenaria(2), si potrebbe persino dire che é un mezzo
che comincia prima del cinema, ma che con esso raggiunge l'inizio del suo grande
sviluppo. Ossia, se diverse "macchine" e artifici riuscirono rapidamente ad imprimere
movimento a disegni ed immagini ed a realizzare quello che fu chiamato "teatro ottico",
la scoperta della tecnica di proiezione fotogramma per fotogramma, insieme a semplici
trucchi con le pellicole e con gli apparecchi di ripresa e proiezione, favorirono la nascita
e la rapida e grande evoluzione di un mezzo e di un genere che ha avuto sempre un
piede nell'industria cinematografica e dell'intrattenimento ed un altro nella produzione
artistica e d'avanguardia.
Anche se tradizionalmente associamo i cartoni animati a Walt Disney ed al suo impero
(anche all'anime giapponese), l'animazione ha una ricca storia che è stata legata
all'avanguardia artistica e visiva, configurando forse uno degli ultimi mezzi per esplorare
il percorso di assimilazione che l'arte contemporanea ed i musei hanno intrapreso
qualche decennio fa, prima in relazione con la fotografia e poi col cinema.
In un mondo dominato dalla cultura visiva, lo sviluppo di programmi informatici specifici
ha favorito l'espansione e l'uso di questo mezzo da parte di numerosi artisti nati
nell'industria dell'intrattenimento, basata prima sui cartoni animati ed educati posteriormente
ai videogiochi, che utilizzano questi mezzi oggi a loro disposizione per narrare storie
attuali. L'animazione riduce il livello di realtá, anche se non lo elimina del tutto e ciò apre
la porta alla fiction con tutte le sue varianti. Inoltre, recentemente l'animazione si espande
anche verso nuovi territori. Non bisogna stupirsi, perció, che sia entrata perfino nello
scenario artistico. Questo si è verificato per varie ragioni. La prima è collegata alla storia
stessa dell'animazione, con i suoi oltre cento anni di storia e la sua vicinanza, in periodi
diversi del secolo scorso, all'arte d'avanguardia ed al cinema sperimentale. In vari
momenti del XX secolo ed in luoghi molto diversi del pianeta ci sono stati importanti
realizzatori di animazione con una chiara vocazione sperimentale ed avanguardista.
Esiste, quindi, una tradizione storica che ha segnato questa vicinanza ed affinità tra le
arti plastiche e l'animazione. D'altro canto c'è una stretta relazione con il cinema e
soprattutto, con alcune esperienze innovatrici provenienti da questo campo. Non é raro,
(1) Testo basato sui saggi critici pubblicati nelle quattro esposizioni di cui sono stato commissario negli ultimi anni: sull'animazione nell'ambito dell'arte contemporanea
Sesiones animadas (CAAM, Las Palmas e MNCARS, Madrid 2005), Historias Animadas (Caixaforum, Barcelona, Sala Rekalde, Bilbao e Le Fresnoy, Tourcoing, 2006-2007),
Fantasmagoría (Fundación ICO, Madrid, 2007) e Geopolíticas de la animación (CAAC, Sevilla e MARCO, Vigo, 2007-2008). Il titolo si riferisce ad un saggio di Antonia Levi.
(2) Vedere, per esempio, queste due storie dell'animazione: Giannalberto Bendazzi, Cartoons, 110 anni di cinema d'animazione Madrid, Ocho y Medio, 2003. O anche, Jerry
Beck (ed.), Arte d'animazione dalla matita al pixel, la storia del cartone animato, Anime & CGI Londra, Flame Tree Publishing 2004.
quindi, che in un momento come l'attuale, in cui gli schermi (il cinema d'esposizione)
si appropriano delle sale dei musei e dei centri d'arte attuali, il mezzo di cui ci stiamo
occupando vi abbia anch'esso un'importante presenza. Inoltre, accanto al cinema
d'esposizione, nell'ultimo decennio si é prodotta anche un'autentica fioritura di un vecchio
mezzo, il disegno, che per la sua immediatezza ed accessibilità è stato ampiamente
utilizzato, esposto e rivendicato. Come abbinarli? Come unire video-cinema e disegno?
La risposta sembra logica e semplice: attraverso il "cartone animato".
Cosa può aggiungere, dunque, l'utilizzo dell'animazione? Tanto per cominciare, arresta,
in buona misura, la realtá ed introduce lo spettatore in un mondo differente, riducendo
i suoi pregiudizi sull'ordine delle cose e permettendo la fantasia, l'affabulazione o la
finzione, ma facilitando anche, grazie ad esse ed all'abbassamento delle barriere da
parte del pubblico, l'introduzione di aspetti simbolici ed allegorici. Questo accade in
buona parte per la nostra innata predisposizione ed apertura verso questo mezzo
(costruita ed alimentata fin dall'infanzia). Da un'altra parte, ciò permette di superare la
realtá, di non doversi adeguare ad essa per quanto attiene alla fisicitá del mondo: cioè,
non limita l'artista e gli apre possibilitá illimitate, quasi altrettante quante sono possibili
nella sua mente. In ultimo, il suo utilizzo nella scena artistica attuale é una pratica aperta
al senso critico partendo dall'ironia, la dolcezza, l'assurdo o il tragico. Le possibilitá di
questo linguaggio centenario sono riscoperte e ritrovano nei nostri giorni uno dei
momenti culminanti della sua storia, specialmente nel terreno dell'arte contemporanea
e per la continua dissoluzione delle frontiere tra realtá e finzione.
L'animazione permette non solo di percepire il mondo in modo diverso, ma anche di
creare altri mondi differenti attraverso due strumenti poderosi: la fantasia e l'immaginazione.
Si può concepire oggi, grazie all'animazione, una rivendicazione dell'immaginazione e
della fantasia nell'arte attuale, che permetta un atteggiamento critico davanti al mondo
e che sia, a sua volta, cosciente dei meccanisimi di potere nella sua costruzione e
utilizzo? La risposta á affermativa e si puó verificare in opere e traiettorie como quelle
di William Kentridge o Kara Walker, ma anche, attraverso un'animazione meno povera;
partendo dalla tecnologia 3d, Hye Rim Lee si impegna nell'esplorazione critica di concetti
collegati con la cultura visiva contemporanea secondo un ottica complessa in cui
partecipano differenti approcci provenienti dal post-colonialismo e la geoestetica, il
femminismo e gli stereotipi sociali e culturali.
Antonia Levi(3), studiando l'animazione giapponese attuale, ha commentato che la
(3) Antonia Levi, "New Myths for the Millennium: Japanese Animation", publicado en John A. Lent (edit), Animation in Asia and the Pacific. Indiana University Press, 2001.
creazione di nuovi miti è una delle questioni fondamentali del nuovo millennio. Ciò vale
anche per Hye Rim Lee, come lei stessa afferma costruendo narrazioni collegate con
le nuove mitologie cyberfemministe e con la cultura dei videogiochi. L'artista è cosciente
di quel "sono di dove penso", che Walter D. Mignolo(4) ha studiato tanto a fondo,
segnalando l'importanza di una geopolitica della conoscenza e indicando che si va
verso uno stato di "colonialitá globale".
Nasce da ciò, dunque, la necessitá di analizzare quei miti che partecipano delle immagini
della femminilità, della sessualità, della cultura infantile, dell'esotismo e degli stereotipi
culturali che i nuovi massmedia riflettono ed impongono. E, tra questi massmedia, si
trovano indubbiamente i cartoni animati e i videogiochi
Da parte sua, Maureen Furniss(5) nell'analizzare le differenze culturali, ha scritto che
"quando parliamo di rappresentazione in film d'animazione, nella maggior parte dei casi
ci interessiamo di ciò che appare sullo schermo. Invece, dovremmo interessarci
altrettanto, se non di più, di quello che non vi appare". Nella sua analisi femminista della
rappresentazione - al di là di un catalogo di opere razziste e maschiliste-, Furniss crede
che non esista fino ad oggi "un modo migliore di rappresentare la femminilità e le
questioni relative alle donne" nei lavori di animazione.
In ogni caso, Hye Rim Lee sembra appropriarsi degli stereotipi sessuali maschili e
occidentali sul corpo femminile e sulla sessualità per alterare le sue storie -come fa in
Candyland-. Così, nel gioco delle combinazioni ed alterazioni di presunte ingenuità che
impiega nei suoi video, c'è un'intelligente unione di due elementi che sono costitutivi
dell'animazione in sé in quanto costruzione culturale. Cioè, da una parte i cartoni animati,
per decenni associati ad un pubblico infantile; dall'altra il boom della produzione di
pornografia animata negli ultimi dieci anni. Appare, quindi, adeguato il collegamento
iconico che l'artista realizza in pezzi come Crystal City Spun (2007) ed in Crystal City
(2008), mescolando stati apparentemente contraddittori: la cultura infantile, il desiderio
maschile, gli stereotipi geoculturali ed il sesso, attraverso un mezzo, l'animazione, in
cui tutti questi elementi sono stati sempre presenti durante la sua ormai lunga storia
nella costruzione di differenti e nuovi miti.
(4) Walter D. Mignolo, Local Histories/Global Designs. Princeton University Press, 2000
(5) Maureen Furniss, Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics. John Libbey Publisher, 2008
Animierte Mythen für das neue Millennium(1)
Juan Antonio Álvarez Reyes
Die Geschichte der Animation blickt bereits auf mehr als ein Jahrhundert zurück(2), man
kann sogar sagen, dieses Medium ist älter als das Kino, wenn auch seine großartige
Entwicklung gleichzeitig mit diesem begann. Das heißt, wenn auch verschiedene
"Maschinen" und Erfindungen früh in der Lage waren, Zeichnungen und Bildern Bewegung
zu geben und es schließlich zu dem brachten, was man "optisches Theater" nennt, so
haben doch die Erfindung der Projektionstechnik Fotogramm für Fotogramm gemeinsam
mit simplen Tricks an den Filmen und den Aufnahme- und Wiedergabegeräten für
Aufstieg und eine baldige großartige Entwicklung eines Mediums und eines Genres
gefördert, das ständig einen Fuß in der kinematografischen und der Unterhaltungsindustrie
und den anderen in der künstlerischen Produktion und der Avantgarde stehen hatte.
Obwohl wir traditionell Zeichentrickfilme mit Walt Disney und seinem Imperium (auch
mit den Animationen aus Japan) in Verbindung setzen, besitzt die Animation eine lange
Geschichte, die an die künstlerische und visuelle Avantgarde geknüpft ist und vielleicht
ist sie eines der letzten Medien, die auf dem Wege der Assimilation, welchen die
zeitgenössische Kunst und die Museen vor einigen Jahrzehnten zunächst hinsichtlich
der Fotografie, anschließend des Kinos eingeschlagen haben, erforscht werden müssen.
In einer Welt, die von der visuellen Kultur beherrscht wird, hat die Entwicklung spezieller
Computerprogramme die Verbreitung dieses Mediums und seine Nutzung durch
zahlreiche Künstler gefördert, die sich der Unterhaltungsindustrie angeschlossen haben,
welche zunächst auf animierten Bildern beruht, um sich anschließend an Videospielen
weiterzubilden und diese Werkzeuge benutzen, die ihnen gegenwärtig zum Erzählen
aktueller Geschichten zur Verfügung stehen. Die Animation senkt das Niveau der Realität,
obwohl es diese nicht vollkommen eliminiert, was der Fiktion in all ihren Varianten Tür
und Tor öffnet. In jüngster Zeit breitet sich die Animation auch über immer neue Territorien
aus. Es ist von daher nicht erstaunlich, dass sie auch das künstlerische Szenarium
betreten hat. Dies geschah aus mehreren Gründen. Der erste hat mit der eigenen
Geschichte der Animation zu tun, mit ihrer über 100jährigen Geschichte und ihren
Annäherungen wä hrend unterschiedlicher Perioden des vergangenen Jahrhunderts an
die Kunst der Avantgarde und das experimentelle Kino. Es gab in der Animation wichtige
(1) Der Text basiert auf den Essays, die in den vier Ausstellungen über Animation im Ambiente der zeitgenössischen Kunst, die ich in den letzten vier Jahren betreut habe,
publiziert worden sind: Sesiones animadas (CAAM, Las Palmas und MNCARS, Madrid 2005), Historias Animadas (Caixaforum, Barcelona, Sala Rekalde, Bilbao und Le
Fresnoy, Tourcoing, 2006-2007), Fantasmagoría (Fundación ICO, Madrid, 2007) und Geopolíticas de la animación (CAAC, Sevilla y MARCO, Vigo, 2007-2008). Der Titel
bezieht sich auf ein Essay von Antonia Levi.
(2) Vgl. zum Beispiel diese beiden Geschichten der Animation: Giannalberto Bendazzi, Cartoons. 110 años de cine de animación. Madrid, Ocho y Medio, 2003. Oder auch
Jerry Beck (Hrsg.), Animation Art. From Pencil to Pixel, The History of Cartoon, Anime & CGI. London, Flame Tree Publishing, 2004.
Regisseure mit einer klaren experimentellen und avantgardistischen Berufung in
verschiedenen Momenten des 20. Jahrhunderts und an ganz unterschiedlichen Orten
unseres Planeten. Es gibt von daher eine historische Tradition, welche diese Nähe und
enge Beziehung zwischen den plastischen Künsten und der Animation betont hat. Auf
der anderen Seite besteht eine enge Verbindung zum Kino, und vor allem zu einigen
innovativen Erfahrungen aus diesem Bereich. Es ist daher nicht verwunderlich, dass
in einer Zeit wie der gegenwärtigen, in der die Bildschirme (das Ausstellungskino) die
Aufmerksamkeit der Museumssäle und der Zentren der Gegenwartskunst auf sich
ziehen, das Medium, das uns hier beschäftigt, hier auch eine gewichtige Präsenz
aufweist. Neben dem Ausstellungskino fand im letzten Jahrzehnt auch ein tatsächlicher
Aufschwung eines alten Medium statt, nämlich der Zeichnung, die ob ihrer Unmittelbarkeit
und Nähe umfangreich benutzt, ausgestellt und beansprucht worden ist. Wie diese
miteinander verknüpfen? Wie kann man Video-Kino und Zeichnung miteinander verbinden?
Nun, die Antwort erscheint logisch und einfach: mittels "Zeichentrickfilm".
Was bringt uns also der Einsatz von Animation? Zunächst hebt sie im großen Maße die
Realität auf und führt den Zuschauer in eine andere Welt ein, nimmt ihm seine
Voreingenommenheit über die Ordnung der Dinge ab und lässt nicht nur die Phantasie,
die Fabulierung oder die Fiktion zu, sondern durch diese und angesichts eines dafür
offeneren Teils des Publikums ermöglicht sie die Einführung des Symbolischen und des
Allegorischen. Dies geschieht zum größten Teil aufgrund unserer inneren Prädisposition
und Öffnung zu diesem Medium (seit der Kindheit eingestellt und gefördert). Andererseits
ermöglicht sie ein Überschreiten dieser Realität; man muss sich, was die physischen
Gesetze dieser Welt betrifft, nicht an sie halten: Das heißt, der Künstler wird nicht
eingeschränkt und ihm stehen unzählige Möglichkeiten offen, beinahe so viele wie in
seinem Geiste möglich sind. Zuletzt ist ihr Einsatz in der künstlerischen Szene eine
Praxis, die im kritischen Sinne durchlässig ist für Ironie, Süße, Unsinn oder Tragik. Die
Möglichkeiten dieser hundertjährigen Sprache sind offenkundig und stehen in unserer
Zeit auf einem Höhepunkt ihrer Geschichte, ganz besonders auf dem Gebiet der
zeitgenössischen Kunst und ob der ständigen Verwischung der Grenzen zwischen
Realität und Fiktion.
Die Animation ermöglicht es nicht nur, die Welt in einer anderen Weise wahrzunehmen,
sondern auch, weitere unterschiedliche Welten mit Hilfe von zwei mächtigen Werkzeugen
zu schaffen: Phantasie und Einbildungskraft. Kann man heute mittels der Animation in
der Gegenwartskunst einen Anspruch der Einbildungskraft und der Phantasie erheben,
der eine kritische Haltung der Welt gegenüber zulässt und sich gleichzeitig der
Machtmechanismen bei seiner Konstruktion und seinem Einsatz bewusst ist? Die Antwort
ist zustimmend und kann anhand von Arbeiten oder Werdegängen wie die von William
Kentridge oder Kara Walker überprüft werden, aber auch mit einer weniger realitätsnahen
Animation im Technologiebereich 3D lässt sich Hye Rim Lee hineinziehen in die kritische
Untersuchung der Dinge, die im Zusammenhang mit der zeitgenössischen visuallen
Kultur stehen, und das aus einer komplexen Sichtweise, an der die verschiedenen
Brennpunkte beteiligt sind, die mit dem Postkolonialismus und der Geoästhetik, dem
Feminismus sowie den sozialen und kulturellen Stereotyen zu tun haben.
Antonia Levi(3) hat anlässlich ihrer Untersuchung der gegenwärtigen japanischen
Animation bemerkt, dass die Schaffung neuer Mythen zu den wichtigsten Angelegenheiten
des neuen Jahrtausends gehört. Für Hye Rim Lee gilt dies auch, wie sie selbst behauptet,
wenn sie Erzählungen konstruiert im Zusammenhang mit den neuen cyberfeministischen
Mythologien und der Kultur der Videospiele. Die Künstlerin ist sich des "ich bin woher
ich denke" bewusst, das so eingehend von Walter D. Mignolo(4) untersucht wurde, als
er die Bedeutung einer Geopolitik des Wissens aufzeigte und bis zu einem Zustand
einer "globalen Kolonialität" gelangte. Von daher also besteht eine Notwendigkeit, diese
Mythen zu analysieren, die von den Bildern des Feminismus, der Sexualität, der
Kinderkultur, der Exotik und der kulturellen Stereotypen partizipieren, welche die
Massenmedien reflektieren und aufdrängen. Und zu diesen Massenmedien gehören
zweifellos auch die Zeichentrickfilme und die Videospiele.
Maureen Furniss(5) ihrerseits hat, als sie die kulturellen Unterschiede analysierte
geschrieben dass, wenn wir, wenn wir über die Repräsentation von Animationsfilmen
reden, in den meisten Fällen uns darauf konzentrieren, was auf dem Bildschirm zu
sehen ist. Es sollte uns aber ebenso sehr oder noch mehr das interessieren, was nicht
zu sehen ist. Bei der feministischen Analyse über die Repräsentation, weit mehr als ein
Katalog rassistischer oder Macho-Werke, glaubt Furniss, dass es bis jetzt "keine bessere
Form der Darstellung der Fraulichkeit und der Frauenfragen" bei den animierten Arbeiten
gibt. Auf jeden Fall scheint Hye Rim Lee sich die männlichen und westlichen
Sexualstereotypen über den weiblichen Körper und die Sexualität angeeignet zu haben,
um ihre Geschichten zu entstellen -wie geschehen in Candyland-. So liegt im Spiel der
Kombination und Veränderung angeblicher Naivitäten, das sie in ihren Videos einsetzt,
(3) Antonia Levi, "New Myths for the Millennium: Japanese Animation", veröffentlicht in John A. Lent (Hrsg.), Animation in Asia and the Pacific. Indiana University Press, 2001.
(4) Walter D. Mignolo, Local Histories/Global Designs. Princeton University Press, 2000.
(5) Maureen Furniss, Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics. John Libbey Publisher, 2008.
eine intelligente Verbindung von zwei Elementen, die konstitutiv für die Animation als
solche wie auch als kulturelle Konstruktion sind. Zur Erläuterung: Einerseits wurden die
Zeichentrickfilme jahrzehntelang einem kindlichen Publikum zugeordnet; andererseits
ist innerhalb der letzten Dekade die Produktion von animierter Pornografie sprunghaft
gestiegen. Von daher scheint diese ironische Wechselbeziehung angebracht, welche
die Künstlerin in Stücken wie Crystal City Spun (2007) und Crystal City (2008) realisiert,
indem sie offenbar widersprüchliche Zustände miteinander vermengt: die Kinderkultur,
die männliche Sehnsucht, die geokulturellen Stereotypen und den Sex über ein Medium,
nämlich die Animation, bei dem all diese Elemente im Verlaufe seiner nun schon langen
Geschichte der Konstruktion anderer und neuer Mythen vorhanden waren.
HYE
RIM
LEE
photography
fotografía
fotografia
fotographie
crystal city
Touch My Tit, 79 x 39.68 inch
Dragon YONG, white 63.53 x 72 inch
Dragon YONG with Unicorn Horn, white, 72 x 72 inch
Whiskers, Unicorn Horn and Curly Spikes, white, 72 x 72 inch
Crystal City 2, white, 72 x 72 inch
Bunny Wired, white, 72 x 68.82 inch
Dragon YONG Whips TOKI, white, 72 x 68.47 inch
Giant Towers, white, 72 x 62.82 inch
Touch My Nipple, red, 72 x 65.65 inch
Stretchy Bunnies, red, 72 x 56.4 inch
Yellow Flower Ring and Pink Bunny, red, 72 x 54.8 inch
Crystal City 2, red, 72 x 72 inch
Dragon YONG Whips TOKI, black, 72 x 68.47 inch
Chess, black, 72 x 60 inch
Yellow Flower Ring, Black, 72 x 66.35 inch
Crystal City 3, black, 72 x 56.25 inch
Whiskers, Unicorn Horn and Curly Spikes, crystal, 72 x 72 inch
Dragon YONG, crystal, 63.53 x 72 inch
Chess, crystal, 72 x 60 inch
Yellow Flower Ring, black, 72 x 66.35 inch
Sleeping Beauty, rubber, 72 x 60 inch
Bunny Wired, rubber
72 x 68.82 inch
Bunny Wired, rubber, 72 x 68.82 inch
Dragon YONG Whips TOKI, rubber, 72 x 68.47 inch
Crystal City 3, rubber, 72 x 56.25 inch
Like my tongue?, blackrubber, 72 x 54.9 inch
Touch My Tit, crystal, 72 x 60 inch
Whiskers, Unicorn Horn and Curly Spikes, blackrubber, 72 x 72 inch
Dragon YONG with Unicorn Horn, blackrubber, 72 x 72 inch
Chess, blackrubber, 72 x 60 inch
Dragon YONG with Unicorn Horn, frost, 72 x 72 inch
Dragon’s Whiskers, frost, 36.64 x 72 inch
Dragon YONG, frost, 63.53 x 72 inch
Yellow Flower Ring and Pink Bunny, frost, 72 x 54.8 inch
Yellow Flower Ring, frost , 72 x 66.35 inch
Touch My Nipple, frost, 72 x 65.65 inch
Bunny Wired, frost, 72 x 68.82 inch
Crystal
Diehl Projects,
Galerie
VolkerMax
Diehl,
Berlin,
2008New York, 2008
Hye
RimCity,
Lee,installation
at the soloshot,
exhibition
Crystal City
opening,
Lang
Gallery,
HYE
RIM
LEE
photography
fotografía
fotografia
fotographie
candyland
Candyland 2006, Installation view, Kukje Gallery, Seoul 2007
Candyland 2006, 3D animation, Digital Photography, C print, Custom made frame with car spray painted, 70 x 70 cm
Candyland, installation view, Adam Art Gallery, Wellington, 2008
Candyland, installation view, Art Chicago, Chicago, 2007
Candyland 2006, Installation view, Kukje Gallery, Seoul 2007
HYE
RIM
LEE
v
v
v
v
i
i
i
i
d
d
d
d
e
e
e
e
o
o
o
o
crystal city spun
Crystal City Spun. Video still, 3D animation projection with surround sound, 3'15" loop DVD. 2008
Crystal City Spun, installation view, Max
Lang Gallery, New York, 2008
HYE
RIM
LEE
video
video
video
video
obsession/love forever
Obsession/Love Forever 2007 Video still
8 channel 3D animation installation with sound 3D animation, looped DVD, 1 min
Courtesy the artist, Starkwhite Auckland, and Kukje Gallery Seoul
Obsession/Love Forever is funded by Screen Innovation Production Fund
(a partnership between Creative New Zealand and The NZ Film Commission) and Asia NZ Foundation.
Obsession/ Love Forever
Installation videw, Starikwhite, Auckland 2007
HYE
RIM
LEE
video
video
video
video
prince g
Prince G, video still, 2006. Courtesy the artist, Starkwhite, Auckland and Kukje Gallery, Seoul
Prince G, installation view, SSamzie Space, Seoul, 2006. Courtesy the artist, Starkwhite, Auckland and Kukje Gallery, Seoul
HYE
RIM
LEE
video
video
video
video
super toy
Super Toy, video still, 2005. Courtesy the artist, Starkwhite, Auckland and Kukje Gallery, Seoul
Super Toy, installation view, The Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, 2005. Courtesy the artist, Starkwhite, Auckland and Kukje Gallery, Seoul
HYE
RIM
LEE
video
video
video
video
powder room
Powder Room, video still, 2005. Courtesy the artist, Starkwhite, Auckland and Kukje Gallery, Seoul
Powder Room, installation view, The Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, 2005. Courtesy the artist, Starkwhite, Auckland and Kukje Gallery, Seoul
HYE
RIM
LEE
video
video
video
video
lash
Lash, video still, 2005. Courtesy the artist, Starkwhite, Auckland and Kukje Gallery, Seoul
Lash, installation view, The Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, 2005. Courtesy the artist, Starkwhite, Auckland and Kukje Gallery, Seoul
Lash, installation view, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, 2008
HYE
RIM
LEE
video
video
video
video
boom boom: super heroine super beauty
BOOM BOOM: super heroine
super beauty
Installation view, out door
projection in St. Pauls Street,
Auckland Festival, AK05
Auckland, 2005
BOOM BOOM: super heroine super beauty, Video stills, 2004
BOOM BOOM: super heroine
super beauty
Installation view, Starkwhite, Auckland,
2004
BOOM BOOM: super heroine super beauty
Installation view, Prospect, Biannual
Contemporary Art New Zealand,
Mediaplex, New Zealand Film Archive,
Wellington, 2004
HYE
RIM
LEE
performance
performance
performance
performance
crystal beauty: electro doll
Stills from documentary film 'TOKI does New York', director Dan Salmon, photography Ben Freedman
HYE
RIM
LEE
performance
performance
performance
performance
pink glitter pantyhose
Pink Glitter Pantyhose, Hye Rim Lee and Jed Town, still from performance, Starkwhite, Auckland 2007. Photography, Jennifer French
HYE
RIM
LEE
biography
biografía
biografia
biographie
Photography, Paul Nathan, 2007
Hye Rim Lee
www.hyerimlee.com
Lives and works in New York and Auckland New Zealand
EDUCATION
2003
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Intermedia)
Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland, New Zealand
1985
Bachelor of Music (Voice)
Ewha Women's University, Seoul, Korea
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITION
2008
Crystal City, GACMA, Málaga
Crystal City, Diehl Projects, Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin
Crystal City, Max Lang Gallery, New York
2007
BOOM BOOM: super heroine super beauty, 24HR ART -The NT Centre for
Contemporary Art, Darwin, AUS
Obsession/ Love Forever, Starkwhite, Auckland
2006
Candyland, Starkwhite, Auckland
2005
Super Toy, Show, Wellington
Powder Room, The Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland
BOOM BOOM: super heroine super beauty, St Pauls Gallery outdoor screen, AK05, Auckland
2004
BOOM BOOM: super heroine super beauty, Starkwhite, Auckland
2003
The Birth of TOKI: hundreds and thousands, Starkwhite, Auckland
Bunny Boom, Rip Shit and Bust Gallery, Auckland
2002
Hello Toki ;), Moving Image Centre, Auckland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITION
2008
Ciencia Tecnologia Arquitectura, Asociacion de Galerias Andaluzas de Arte Contemporaneo,
Sevilla
Summer Group Exhibition, Max Lang Gallery, New York
The Joy of Sex, White Square Gallery, Las Vegas, curator: Johannes M. Hedinger
The Subject Now, Adam Gallery, Wellington, curator; Tina Barton
Mirror States, Campbelltown Arts Center, Sydney, curator: Kathy Cleland
Videotheque, Art Unlimited, Art Basel
Contemporary Korean Art from the National Museum, Korean Cultural Centre, London
Art-Speak: Works from The University of Auckland Art Collection, The Gus
Fisher Gallery, Auckland
Light Box, Italy and Kitchens, Auckland
Full Circle: Elam Graduates from The University of Auckland Collection, Auckland Luxury of Love,
Vanina Holasek Gallery, New York, curator: Davide Centineo
2007
ISCP Open Studio Weekend, International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York, curator: Sara
Reisman
Business and Pleasure volume 2, International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York, curator:
Rita Palma
The New Media Festival 07, Hardcore Art Contemporary Space, Miami
Shall We Smell? Space C, Coreana Meseum of Art, Seoul, Korea, curator; Myung Jee Bae
Videoteque, Art Unlimited, Art Basel, Basel
Group Show Part 2, Kukje Gallery, Seoul
2006
The sea that has two names, video art from Korea, Casa Asia, Barcelona, curator: Cristina de
la Fuente, Manu Park
Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Award, Waikato Museum of Art and History, Hamilton
Power Ball 6, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto
OFF LOOP '06 Festival, New Zealand Scapes, Espai Liceu, Barcelona, curator: Mercedes Vicente
OFF LOOP '06 Festival, Busan Biennale 2006, Casa Asia, Barcelona, curator:
Manu Park
The Original Neo Aesthetics of Animamix MoCA Shanghai, China, curator: Victoria Lu
EXPOSED: black box & crystal ball, cross-cultural contemporary media art project in
public
sites, London, curator: Ji Yoon Lee
Animamix, Hangzhou The 2nd China International Cartoon and Animation Festival, Hangzhou,
China
Open Studio Exhibition, SSamzie Space, Seoul, Korea
Fiction@Love / Forever Young Land, MoCA Shanghai, China, curator: Victoria Lu
2005
Paradiso D'amore: New Aesthetics of Animamic Age, The Hangzhou West Lake Expo Museum,
Millennium Museum, Beijing, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China, curator: Victoria
Lu
MadeKnown, UTS gallery, Sydney
The TSB Collection Show, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
2004
Break/Shift, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, curator: Greg Burke, Simon Rees
Telecom Prospect 2004: New Art New Zealand, City Gallery Wellington, Mediaplex, NZ Film
Archive, Wellington, curator: Emma Bugden
Water Works, RM 103, Auckland
2003
ICECA - Initiative for Cultural Exchange and Computer Arts, CHIANGMAI FIRST NEW MEDIA ART
FESTIVAL, CMU Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Intersculpt, Snowwhite Gallery, Auckland
Extra Lives, a selection of works from Arcadia exhibition at Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, the Gus
Fisher Gallery, Auckland
Sublime Metaphor, Oxford Museum, England, Leedy Voulkos Gallery, Kansas City, USA, curator:
Jan White
Portraiture, te tuhi - the mark gallery, Auckland
Upfront: the foyer art project, AK03, Generator Bates office and Price Waterhouse Coopers
building foyer, Auckland, curator: Derrick Cherrie, Hanna Scott
Arcadia: the other life of video games, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, curator: Hanna
Scott
Cuckoo: Put Out More Flags! Moving Image Centre, Auckland
TOKI/Cyborg, Bunny Boom, Anna Bibby Gallery, Auckland
2002
Break, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, curator: Simon Rees
Hello TOKI ;), Creative New Zealand office, Auckland
Nightvision, Freyberg Place, High Street, Auckland
Small Time, George Fraser Gallery, Auckland
Pelvic Trust 2, 37 Crummer Rd, Auckland
The Bold and the Beautiful, Grantham Galleries, Auckland
2001
Elamlive@SCAPA, Kenneth Myers Centre, Auckland
Streets Ahead Streets Apart, NZ Film Archive, Auckland
Goggle Box, Light Box, Auckland
PERFORMANCE
2008
Crystal Beauty: Electro Doll, Max Lang Gallery, New York
Crystal Beauty: Electro Doll, Mighty Mighty, Wellington
Crystal Beauty: Electro Doll, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney
2007
Pink Glitter Pantyhose, Starkwhite, Auckland
2003
TOKILAND, Interdigitate 2003, St James Theatre, Auckland
FILM SCREENING
2005
TOKINARA, Viewfinder, NZ Film Archive Window Project, Auckland
TOKINARA, Rear Window Project, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
TOKI/Cyborg, Video After Dark, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
2002
59 men, Bunny Cubed, I See, Channel 31, Melbourne, Australia
59 men, Film Archive Window, Auckland
59 men, ShortFuse31: A Night Of Short Film, The Classic, Auckland
FILMOGRAPHY
2002
Bunny Cubed, short film, DV, 4mins
2001
E BANG IN, short film, DV, 4:40
59 men, animation, DV, 44sec
Yang Sang Choo, short video, DV, 40sec
2000
Say Sexy, short video, DV, 41sec
COLLECTION
2008
Candyland, Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University, Wellington
Crystal City Spun, Hara Museum, Tokyo
Lash, The Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington
Crystal City series, Mira Ricanati, New York
2007
Obsession: Love Forever, Coreana Art Museum, Seoul
Crystal City series, Gallerie Volker Diehl Berlin
Crystal City series, Eglantine de Ganay, Paris
Crystal City series, Jean Pigozzi, New York
Crystal City series, Candyland, Mira Ricanati, New York
Powder Room, lips, Kevin Roberts, CEO Saatchi&Saatchi Worldwide
Candyland series, Obsession/Love Forever, Saatchi & Saatchi NZ, Auckland
Candyland series, Gallerie Volker Diehl, Berlin
Lash, Stefan Edlis, Gael Neeson, Chicago
2006
Lash, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea
2005
BOOM BOOM: super heroine super beauty, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
The Birth of TOKI series, Ernst&Young, Auckland
2004
The Birth of TOKI series, The University of Auckland, Auckland
TOKI/Cyborg, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
AWARD, RESIDENCY AND COMMISSION
2008
Screen Innovation Production Fund, A partnership between Creative New Zealand and the NZ
Film Commission
2007
International Studio and Curatorial Program artist in residence New York
2006
Screen Innovation Production Fund, A partnership between Creative New Zealand and the NZ
Film Commission
Asia NZ Foundation Fund
Auckland City CBD Project public video commission
Ssamzie Space Studio Programme artist in residence, Seoul, Korea
2005
Asia NZ Foundation Fund
Arts Board: Creative and Professional Development, Creative New Zealand
2004
Screen Innovation Production Fund, A partnership between Creative New Zealand and the NZ
Film Commission
2003
Arts Board: New Work, Creative New Zealand
2002
Elam Art Scholarship
ART FAIR
2008
Crystal City, Art Basel
Candyland mini, Crystal City, Sh Contemporary 08
Candyland_mini, Art HK 08
Crystal City, Art Chicago
Candyland, ARCO, Madrid
Crystal City, The Armory Show, New York
Candyland, Art Dubai
Candyland, KIAF (Korea International Art Fair 2006), Seoul
2007
Crystal City, Candyland, Art Miami Basel, Miami
Crystal City, Candyland, Obsession: Love Forever, Asian Contemporary Art Fair, New York
Powder Room, Candyland, Sh Contemporary 07, Shanghai
Obsession/ Love Forever, Candyland, Art Basel, Basel
Obsession/ Love Forever, KIAF, Seoul
Candyland, Art Chicago, Chicago
Lash, The Armory Show, New York
Powder Room, ARCO, Spain
2006
Lash, China International Gallery Exposition 2006, Beijing
Lash, KIAF (Korea International Art Fair 2006), Seoul
CATALOGUE
2008
Mirror States, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney
2007
Hye Rim Lee, Kyung Jeon, Hideaki Kawashima, YP, Kukje Gallery Seoul Korea
2006
Powder Room, editor: Gregory Burke, Publisher: Saatchi&Saatchi, The Gus
Fisher Gallery The University of Auckland and TOKI Publications
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2008
Sue Gardiner, 'Video calls the shots', Artnews New Zealand, vol.28, pp.90-97
http://vistaartanddesign.com/news.php?news_id=163
http://www.style.com/trends_style_file/2008/04/propotion-cont.html
2007
NY Times Sunday 9 Dec 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/travel/09COMdubai.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Emma Son, 'Inside Out: Examined, Exposed, Expressed', catalogue for
Group Show Part Two: Hye Rim Lee, Kyung Jeon, Hideaki Kawashima, YP, Kukje Gallery Seoul
Korea, pp 6-17
Whang You Mee, 'Artists expose personal identities' The Korea Herald, February 15
Park Soo Mee, 'Four Artists' Twisted Takes on Reality', Joong Ang Daily, February 16
2006
Charlotte Huddleston, 'From the powder room' Powder Room catalogue, pp.3-7
Ron Hanson, 'Re-Channelling Desire - the Creation of Prince G', White Fungus, issue 7 December,
pp. 63-64
Dr. Barry King, 'Cybernetics and Sex', Powder Room catalogue, pp.23-25
Jaenine Parkinson, 'Beautification and Regulation', Powder Room catalogue, pp.19-21
Lash, Super Toy, Powder Room', aen journal, issue 2: creativity and ethnic communities, December,
available on line at www.aen.org.nz
John Hurrell, 'Too much work - but still some treats', Trust Waikato National
Contemporary Art Award, Artbash, 7 Aug 06, available online at
www.artbash.co.nz/display.asp?thread_number=793
Dr. Barry King, 'Orientalizing Sexism: Hye Rim Lee's TOKI, Afterimage, vol. 33, no.4, pp. 25-29
2005
Ron Hanson, 'Fantasy and Confrontation', White Fungus, issue 5, December, pp.22-27
T.J McNamara, 'Stacks of style and horsepower', New Zealand Herald, December 14, p.B5
Natasha Conland, 'Passing Through: A Base in New Zealand Art'. Broadsheet: Adelaide, vol.34
no.2, June-August 2005, pp.84-86
Andrew Clifford, 'TOKI the alien bunny grows into a woman', New Zealand Herald, June 15, p.B6
T.J McNamara, 'Transformations are executed with elegance, yet make a powerful impact', New
Zealand Herald, June 1, p. B5
William McAloon, 'The Arrival Lounge', New Zealand Listener, vol.197, no. 3383, March 12-18,
p.48
Simon Rees, 'Focus: Changing Address', Visit, #7, Summer/Autumn, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery,
New Plymouth, p.11
2004
Rebecca Rice, 'Exhibitions, Wellington', Art New Zealand, No 112/Spring, p.52
William McAloon, 'The grand illusion' New Zealand Listener, July 17~23, vol.194, no.3349, p.46
Jaenine Parkinson, 'Hye Rim Lee', NZ Art Monthly, July ~ August, available online at
http://www.nzartmonthly.co.nz
Emma Bugden, 'Welcome In', Telecom Prospect 2004 exhibition online catalogue,
www.telecomprospect2004.org.nz
T.J.McNamara, 'The galleries: Art of saying one thing and meaning another', New Zealand Herald,
March 17, p.B5
Gregory Burke, 'Recent exhibitions in New Zealand', Art & Australia, #41 no.3, p.478
2003
Hanna Scott, Arcadia: the other life of video games, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth,
p.30
Natasa Kruscic, 'Hye Rim Lee and The Birth of TOKI', NZ Art Monthly, December, available online
at http://www.nzartmonthly.co.nz/kruscic_001.html
Sue Gardiner, 'AK03, Artnotes NZ North Island', Art Monthly Australia, #165, p.37
Virginia Were, 'The graduates', Art News New Zealand, #23, p.54
Rhoda Fowler, 'Hye Rim Lee' Portraiture, te tuhi - the mark, p.27
Simon Rees, 'Point Break' Visit, #5, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, p.5