ha cha youn has worked as an artist since the early 90s in Berlin, Paris and many regions in northern Germany as well as in Masan and Seoul, Korea. Whereas most of the artists working with the theme of migration focus on collecting documents and thoughts along the itinerary, Ha observes the features of temporary settling thoughts formed on the other side of superficial migration.

From her viewpoint of understanding “migration” as continual short-term settlements, the artist observes the series of localizing process which requires getting accustomed to the lifestyle, system of thinking of whichever place the short-term sojourn takes place. She looks at its political aspect, full of struggle, since humans cannot avoid the localizing process of having to make relationships by putting oneself inside a frame within a certain border, for one’s survival even though they are moving around. From this aspect, the artist expresses that settlement and migration are simply transformed forms of human existence and there is no reciprocal binary oppositional counteractive relation formed. Rather, the flexibility of thinking which does not settle down to fixation is more important that the physical migration or moving, according to the artist.

One of the video works shown in this exhibition, Stone-Play, is a recent work created upon the artist’s return to Seoul since more than 20 years. It is again about the engagement of visible action perceived as binary oppositional relation and thoughts. The artist has guided the viewers to imagine the situation in which a stone is used as several tools by simply wriggling and changing the movement of the hand which holds the stone taken from the streets. She implies various positions and situations in which a stone becomes a throwing weapon, a grinder, a knife, a nerve-stimulating tool for blood circulation. Even so, she never takes action with any of its use. While holding the stone in her hand, the artist questions the range of imagination of potential users, what can the stone become and how can it be used.

Courtesy of Art Space Pool