“Nori” is a group exhibition of works by Korean-New Zealander artists. Nori, or 놀이 in Korean, can be translated as play, playtime, and recreation in English, and refers to any activity that is usually accompanied by a set of rules and carried out by a group of people to entertain themselves as well as others. In Nori, Auckland-based artists Julia J Kim, Jae Hoon Lee (Robert Heald Gallery), Seung Yul Oh (Starkwhite), Joon-Hee Park (OrexArt) and Hanna Shim (Whitespace) will present a diverse range of existing works, including videos, digital prints, paintings, and participatory projects, that can be reread and encountered in relation to the various connotations of Nori, from entertainment to mental exercises and sensory engagement.
For Late Night Art, Freyberg Place will be illuminated with cube light boxes (supported by Auckland Council) with works by Jae Hoon Lee and Joon-Hee Park. The Betty Wark Room will also transform into an interactive art space where you can contribute to Seung Yul Oh’s project, The Ability to Blow Themselves Up. Inspired by reading about puffer fish, Oh has created balloons which explode in your face. These interactions will be filmed live and edited on site with the video playing throughout the rest of Artweek.
Featured works:
- Julia J Kim – Dad and I
By documenting my father’s everyday life and myself mimicking my father’s action, I am exploring the father-daughter relationship and at the same time the unforeseen arrangements and possibilities of ordinary perception. As my conceptual interests rely on how everyday life and the body are inextricably linked through an individually lived experience, the work focuses on the bodily movement that is performed on systems of subjects and things. It seems to me that bodily matters and embodied relations are making the body a significant object of reflection. No photography permitted at this exhibition - Jae Hoon Lee – Castle Rock
My collaged photographic works are digitally rebuilt landscapes, constructed from multiple images taken over a protracted period of time. I think of these images as ‘time-based’ photography rather than still photography. They do not “capture the moment” but instead present multiple instances that are collapsed, via digital manipulation, to create alternative new readings of my personal scope on various rock formations in different geographical locations, such as Nepal, Korean and Antarctica. Through my ‘time-based’ photography, the multi-layers of different timelines coexist together, because each image captures my memories from thee different journeys. With their overlay and simultaneity, the images represent an ongoing journey rather than the lived experience of my past. - Jae Hoon Lee - A Long White Cloud
A Long White Cloud consists of four collaged photographic works that are digitally rebuilt cloudscapes, constructed from multiple images taken over a protracted period of them. I think of them as ‘time-based’ photography rather than still photography. They do not 'capture the moment'; instead, they present multiple instances collapsed into one. This work evokes my own state of a being as a long white cloud, which is always transforming into different shapes. - Seung Yul Oh – The Ability to Blow Themselves Up
'The Ability to Blow Themselves Up' (ongoing since 2003) comes in two parts: a live, participatory project that invites you to blow up balloons until they pop; and a video recording of balloons bursting into the air one after another. Tune in for Tuesday 'Late Night' and come blow – or watch them pop. - Joon-Hee Park – Melancholia
My paintings are like baking cakes. Layers of childhood memories and dreams, filled with fluffy cream of imagination with drops of love, loss and pain. It’s covered with elements of childlike playful ganache, with a sprinkle of bittersweet nostalgia on top. Through the process of creating my ‘cakes’, I explore the depth of my emotion. Sometimes my paintings feel more real to me than this world that I’m living in. It’s pure escapism. - Hanna Shim – Bridegroom for Miss Mouse
Bridegroom for Miss Mouse narrates a Korean folk tale through vinyl cut graphic artworks on window panels, which mimics a form of traditional Korean art on folding partition screens from the Joseon Era. The story begins with a mouse family. The mouse parents are looking for the most powerful and strongest husband for their precious daughter. They first go to the cat, because the strongest husband they could think of was the cat. The cat says the dog is more powerful than him. So, they go to the dog and the dog says humans are stronger than dogs. They meet the human and the human replies, “The sun is the most powerful being in the world.” The sun then says, “Meet the clouds, as the clouds can cover the sun.” Then the clouds say, “The winds are more powerful as they can blow away the clouds.” Then the wind tells the mouse parents to meet the Buddha statue as it cannot be moved by the wind. Buddha then says, “I’m afraid of mice. They gnaw the bottom of my stand.” In the end, Miss Mouse married Mr Mouse as mice are the strongest and most powerful beings in the world.
Kindly supported by Ellen Melville Centre, Auckland Council and Heart of the City.
Part of Artweek in the City Centre.
Park for $2 per hour, to a maximum of $10 on evenings and weekends at the Victoria St car park. Find out more.