signs of flood (positions for contemporary living)
2016
Queens Museum, New York
Gallery Sculptor, Helsinki
Fabric off cuts, hand embroidery with wool, wood
18 banners embroidered with a choreographic score of body positions pulled from social media, Google image search and news sites. The slow process of hand stitching immobilizes the body caught in action: a series of yoga poses, disaster survival tactics, person traveling under a truck, Steve Jobs presenting a new Apple product, Obama doing bunny ears in a manipulated news image, and so forth. The banners evoke the schizophrenic constellation of topics we digest, edit, and respond to on a daily basis, distilling the algorithmically delivered news stories that flood our social media profiles, browsers, and inboxes into visual one-liners that maintain a physical relationship to one another. The accompanying titles contrast the movements in the banners, offering more information on the original source material, simultaneously questioning verbs associated with contemporary living and values under capitalism.
In the Queens Museum the banners formed an installation with Bang Geul Han’s real-time video-piece carrying the same title.
With the kind support of: Queens Museum, Material for the Arts, Frame Finland and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
