Yongjin Kim b. 1961

EDUCATION:

Hong-Ik University, Seoul, South Korea, M.F.A; Hong-Ik University, Seoul, South Korea, B.F.A.

EXHIBITIONS:

SOLO - 2004 A Narrative on the Two Dimensional Plane , Art Forum New Gate; 2002 Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea; 1996 FLUIDS , The Korean Art& Culture Foundation, Seoul, South Korea; 1995 Asian Artists Today, Fukuoka Annual IX, Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan; 1994 The Exhibition of the Suk-Nam Art Prize , Park Ryu Sook Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

GROUP - 2006 Slow Teach , MOCA, Taipei, Taiwan; Exposed: Black box & Crystal ball , London, UK; 2005 Seoul: Until Now!, Charlottenborg Exhibition Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark; DMZ 2005 , Book City, Heiri, Dorasan Station, DMZ, Paju, South Korea; 2004 Past in Reverse , San Diego Art Museum, USA; Slow Rushes , MOCA, Lithuania; 2003 Happiness , Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; Leaning forward looking back , Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA; 2002 Hand Touch Water , collaborative performance with dancer Toru Iwashita; Birds on Board , collaborative performance with Pappa Tarahumara Capio Hall, Tsukuba, Setagaya Public Theater, Tokyo, Japan, Beautiful Life ?, Art Tower Mito, Mito, Japan; 2001 Translated Acts , Queens Museum, New York, USA; Ego-Fugal 7th International Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey; Sonsbeek 9 , Arnhem, Netherlands; Translated Acts , Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany; Unreal Time Video , KCAF, Seoul, South Korea;

There is a long-standing tradition of water calligraphy writing in the East. It was done by scholars who could not afford ink, or for more meditative purposes by Buddhist monks. There is a profound sense of beauty and truth in seeing visible words changing and losing shape and meaning, as water dries. Even when the same word is written a thousand times, each time the result is different, depending on time and chance, showing that nothing is ever truly repeatable, and that what is once lost is never truly recoverable.

If Andrei Tarkovsky's works are described as painting with light, then Youngjin Kim's work can be described as painting light with water. With nothing but water, he creates a scene of shadow and light reminiscent of traditional Korean calligraphy or paintings. However, unlike the traditional Korean scholars who aimed for full control of the medium with which they worked with, Youngjin Kim allows his medium to ˇ®play'. We see a large projection showing a play of water droplets and words formed of water, forming, moving, changing and disappearing with time. He provides an environment, in which the elements are allowed to play. It is a state where order and chaos seems to co-exist, and where narratives form, disappear and re-form.

Fluid ( 2006)
Real time video projection
Hand-made projector, pump, water, PCB controller

Courtesy of the artist