How to Make the Biggest Circle, 2014

Curated by Zeljka Himbele

The experimental nature of Suki Seokyeong Kang’s art practice embraces many different media such as painting, video, installation, and, more recently, larger scale ambiances. It all started with painting and imaginative investigation of this traditional medium in which Kang has studied, while simultaneously developing interests in historical Korean art disciplines, particularly court dances and music notations. As a foundation for conceptual and structural aspect of her art making, the artist appropriates the system of Jeongganbo.[1] The traditional Korean musical notation structure, Jeongganbo consists of a grid of rectangular cells (Jeongs), each of them containing the inscribed rules about tone and length of sound and the particular body movements and lyrics to accompany it. Each Jeong therefore might be seen as an individual entity that, through coexistence with all the other separate Jeongs, creates harmony. Kang translates historical, structural and metaphorical properties of Jeongganbo into contemporary artistic vocabulary to reflect on today’s humanity and the everlasting flow of its tensions and amities.

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