KIM Daum: Blind Land
A real-estate term for a space surrounded by other plots that cannot be accessed becomes a way into narratives of occupation.
A real-estate term for a space surrounded by other plots that cannot be accessed becomes a way into narratives of occupation.
KIM Daum, Blind Land, 2016, four-channel video, eight-channel sound, dimensions variable, 9 min 9 sec. All rights reserved by the artist.
KIM Daum’s work captures forms of life built on top of the multifaceted web of social relationships. From physical spaces to online environments, KIM observes various structures and systems, and how they work, and adds narrative to them. The work straddles the private and public spheres; based on memories or experiences on a micro-level, it evokes social, cultural, political, and historical contexts on a macro-level. In Blind Land (2016), the artist presents three narrators living in Seoul, Hong Kong and Taiwan, places with similar but different historical and social backgrounds. They let others into their own spaces, leave certain spaces, or encounter spaces left behind. Mengzi, “blind land,” is a real-estate term for a no-man’s land without a way out – a space surrounded by other plots of land that cannot be accessed by normal travel routes, such as roads. The narrators express their emotions about the spaces and evoke the psychological density and emotional depth inherent in them. Their narration touches on private and public space, narratives of memory and occupation and possession of a place where conflicts arise.
About the artist
KIM Daum completed his BFA from Kookmin University in Seoul. His works address various interfaces that occur in between relations in our everyday lives. Recently, he has focused on the perspective and sense of the gap between reality and the ideal and is developing it in his practice.
