The Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art exhibition catalogue (APT2)

Driving up to the limits (llchuiwoljang) is an artwork which provokes a feeling of entanglement in the audience. 1/chuiwoljang, originally an expression made up of four Chinese characters, means 'to progress every day and every month'. However, Kim Myung-Hye alters the expression to mean 'to drive up to the limits'. These two contrasting meanings, derived from a single phonemic sign, point to the heart of the deception in current South Korean society. After the Korean War, the modernisation of South Korea was superficially a model case of 'progressing every single day', but the individuals who lived through it were endlessly forced to 'drive up to the limits' and overcome difficulties. 66 I A RT I s T s : EA s T A s I A Driving up to the limits 1995 Installation comprising departure board, pole vault, limbo stick Shown at Kwangju International Biennale Collection: The artist Large-scale social projects, such as modernisation and industrialisation, can be sustained only when the people who live with them accept and support them. Hence, the way these projects progress is closely linked to the way the lives of those people living through the changes are shaped. South Korea's modernisation, the 'driving up to the limits' ethos, forced changes to the traditional lifestyles at such a speed that the people no longer knew where they stood and meaningful participation was made impossible. Despite the dazzling appearance of South Korean society, the results of this accelerated transition were the collapses of the Sampoong department store and the Sungsoo Bridge, as well as widespread, suppressed anxiety. 1 This installation intends to expose this dilemma. The work consists of three parts. The first part is a departure board, commonly seen in airports. Winning slogans from South Korean Government competitions are shown in an endless rotation on the upper portion of the board. The slogans include: 'The way to survive is by being the world's best, the way to go is to the world's stage', 'If I am the best in the world, Korea is the best in the world', 'The working force of globalisation is you', 'In what area are you the world's best?', and so forth. 2 At the bottom of the departure board are inscriptions of statistics intended to confirm these slogans. 3 In front of the board lie the second and third parts of the work: a pole vault and a limbo stick. A leap for the attainment of one's greatest desires demands the ability to lower one's body to the ground, that is, the ability to reduce the quality of one's individual lifestyle to its minimum. The works of Kim Myung-Hye have spread their tentacles to the sensitive social issues diffused through our daily lives. Her elegantly drawn knife points consistently at the essence of the meanings that transect our chaotic lives. When we make a close encounter with these meanings, they radiate and expand like computer files decompressing. Exposure to these meanings brings a regained sensitivity and awareness through which we recognise the forced schematisation of society which predominates in our ordinary daily routines and the bitterness in our lives. Nevertheless, Kim Myung-Hye's works are not necessarily heavy and grave. She leads the audiences to self-actualisation and participation and guides them to arrive at such awareness with enjoyment. Therefore, what we feel from her works may be entanglement, but also, a refreshing awareness. Lee Young-Uk, Art Critic and Professor, Jeon Ju University, South Korea The sudden collapse of aluxurious department store building and abridge in the inner city area of Seoul were recent accidents which caused numerous deaths. The modernisation and economic development of South Korea have been encouraged by numerous slogans and catch phrases. The slogans include· 'Working while fighting, fighting while working', 'Produce, Export, Construct', or 'To see ajust society', and recently the new government in South Korea has taken 'Globalisation' as its slogan. Note that despite the fact that it ranks number one in mean working hours, South Korea is rated twenty-third in GNP per person.