Miru Kim took us by surprise with her last exhibition at Trunk Gallery, in April 2012, titled The Pig That Therefore I Am. Based on the judgment that human beings are surrounded by layers of concepts, built up unbeknown to them and that prevent them from living creatively, Kim boldly challenges these fixed concepts and notions: this is central to her work.  At Art Basel Miami in 2011, Kim used the work I Like Pigs and Pigs Like Me (104 hours) to dismantle the notion of “dirtiness” forced upon pigs through her own body, actions and art. Through this performance, and the images she took of it herself, Kim demonstrated how the process of actually living together with pigs and breaking her own stereotypes was itself a work of art. Kim is an artist who throws her entire physical self into dismantling stereotypes. She uses her physical experiences to develop a philosophical logic.

In 2014, Kim has taken on another theme: The Camel’s Way begins with the question, “Why did the came go to the desert?” and uses it as a starting point for exploring deserts and remote places. Attempting to develop an aesthetic using a naked body, rather than a nude, in the Muslim cultural sphere, where female nakedness is strictly taboo, inevitably creates a shocking impression. The exceptional process of relying on the help of a single nomad in the heart of the desert must have been hugely stressful and frightening; it was into this environment that Kim launched her own body. She devoted herself to the development of her own logic. Hearing her tell how she feigned boldness and went through with the work in a natural way, despite her pounding heart and trembling body, filled me with respect.
-Young Sook Park (director, Trunk Gallery)

*image (left)
courtesy of the artist