Ju Young Kim, Eight miles above sea level 4974 miles and 16 hours to reach you, 2024

2024

Medium

Aircraft 3-seater bench, stained glass, aluminum and bronze

Dimensions

145 × 111 cm

Status

In Gallery Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-156112

'Eight miles above sea level 4974 miles and 16 hours to reach you' (2024) is part of the work series AEROPLASTICS, in which Ju Young Kim explores liminal states and transit zones by reshaping industrial transportation modules from airplanes into symbolically encoded works. She combines these with stained glass, cast metal, ceramics and plastic, thus combining high-tech objects with artisanal techniques. In doing so, the artist repeatedly draws on Art Nouveau elements, whose floral formal language at the beginning of the 20th century pursued the goal of integrating nature into the modern world and the onset of industrialization. Taken from their original context, these elements appear in Kim's works in a surreal way, moving between different time horizons and opening up a new perspective on the phenomena of a globalized world. Kim examines the relativity of space and time from the perspective of a transcontinental traveler. Landscape motifs and traditional symbolism meet industrial products and transportation systems to paint a picture of an accelerated society in which different cultural and temporal components collide. The artist examines feelings of parallel existence and instability that arise from living in different places and explores concepts of identity, belonging and home. "Eight miles above sea level 4974 miles and 16 hours to reach you" comprises a three-part row of seats, which have been reduced to their aluminum construction and whose headrests Kim has replaced with floral glass elements. The stained glass patterns are taken from maps for pilots, the lead lines between the glass indicate the flight routes. On an ornate glass folding table, bronze-cast shells are reflected in a mirror below. The mussel shells originate from near the Korean coast and were unintentionally dispersed into the world's oceans by the ballast water of container ships, where they were able to repopulate.