Apr Week 4 → Case Study
Na Kim (b. 1979, Seoul)
Text directly from Na Kim’s official website.
https://ynkim.com/category/work/
Na Kim (b. 1979) is an artist and designer based in Berlin and Seoul. She collects objects, events, texts, and images found in everyday life, exploring the relationship between discord and order within them. Grounded in the language of design, she experiments at the intersection where it meets the grammar of art, expanding the possibilities of visual thinking through various media. Her work takes form in installations, publications, documentation, and other formats. Kim is represented by Kukje Gallery and runs the project space LOOM in Berlin.
In "SET," Na Kim’s work from the past 10 years will be exhibited in one space, and a namesake catalog will be shown as part of the exhibition. Regardless of production year, medium, commission, etc, the catalog comprises of design and other works that are reordered according to the visual elements found in each work. The production and editing of this catalog is a collaborative effort with graphic designer Joris Kristis. As it is the first time Kim has handed over the designer role to another person, she intends to redefine the notion of the artist and the designer’s role. Along those lines, the wall and floor space of the exhibition will be divided in a similar proportion as the catalog’s design, then the works in the catalog will be made into wall drawing, serving as the set for a performance that will coincide with the visual aspects of Kim’s work. In this way, Kim’s work brings out the intrinsic distinctions between fine art and design, tearing down the boundaries of process and form. And by expanding into the realm of installation and performance, the artist shows the possibilities of a cohesive and unified body of work. It is these reconstituted and restructured heterogeneous elements that point towards and reveal new meaning and potential.