Save As
Mi Rim Chu
In her works, Mi Rim Chu expresses a worldview that recalls Ovid’s The Metamorphoses, in which different modes of existence—such as god, human, animal, and object—somehow become compatible with one another. Hence, Daphne is transformed into a laurel, Actaeon becomes a deer, and hybrid creatures such as the Minotaur appear. The interchangeability of these disparate systems constitutes a narrative that takes place at the point of contact between these entities, which ultimately transforms the prevailing attitude of the time. Likewise, Mi Rim Chu enacts a world in which systems of objects, images, signs, and information are compatible with each other. In this world, by converting or reformatting their component particles, each system generates a cycle that leads to a completely different function and identity.
Pixel Space 001, 2008, mixed media, 50 × 50 cm
Pixel Space 002, 2008, mixed media, 50 × 50 cm
Pixel Space 004, 2007, mixed media, 50 × 50 cm
Pixel Space 017, 2007, adhesive sheet, 1,500 × 300 cm (height)
Pixel Space 017, 2007, adhesive sheet, 1,500 × 300 cm (height)
Brick Icon, 2011, adhesive sheet, 500 × 700 cm (height)
Brick Icon, 2011, adhesive sheet, 500 × 700 cm (height)
The exhibition title Save As refers to the way that computer files are given new identities or formats. Mi Rim Chu saves a landscape photo or satellite view as a screenshot or image file, and then generates minimal symbols or shapes from the pixelated images. She then converts these new images into a vector file from Adobe Illustrator in order to print them, or transforms them into three-dimensional relief works using stencils or paper blocks. This process can sometimes lead to installation works, wherein Chu induces audience interaction by covering an interior space or outer wall with her images, printed on contact paper. In other cases, she combines relief or installation works with videos showing an endless chain reaction of symbols and shapes. In summary, Chu’s works represent the operation of an expansive system that begins from a basic pixel unit that spawns limitless growth, connectivity, and combination.
Home_Yangpyeong-dong, 2013, mixed media, 50 × 50 cm
Home_Yangpyeong-dong, 2013, mixed media, 50 × 50 cm
Bundang, 2013, mixed media, 50 × 50 cm
Bundang, 2013, mixed media, 50 × 50 cm
Paris 15th Arrondisement, 2013, mixed media, 50 × 50 cm
Paris 15th Arrondisement, 2013, mixed media, 50 × 50 cm
Night SN.001, SN.002, SN.003, 2019, mixed media, 70 × 70 cm (each)
Night SN.001, SN.002, SN.003, 2019, mixed media, 70 × 70 cm (each)
Stencil Series, 2016, acrylic and ink pen on paper, 56 × 37 cm (each), 12 pieces
Stencil Series, 2016, acrylic and ink pen on paper, 56 × 37 cm (each), 12 pieces
The artist views this system as a type of parallel urban space. Pixel Space, her series of drawings and acrylic paintings that began in 2007, led to her installation www.the world we live in (2013). These works are based on concise drawings of colored pixel shapes, reminiscent of Tetris blocks, as well as various events surrounding these pixels. In both Home_Yangpyeong-dong, Bundang, and Paris 15th Arrondisement, which were also produced in 2013, the artist used paper blocks to create a relief work depicting the urban landscape from a bird’s-eye view. In subsequent works, Chu’s symbols and shapes became more abstract, leading to Stencil Series (2016), in which symbols reminiscent of data infographics are complexly assembled and simultaneously rendered as both drawings and mural paintings. This work shows how the artist’s holistic worldview has widened to encompass not only patterns and rhythms, but also attractive and exceptional graphic objects.
9 Color Spectrum, 2018, adhesive sheet, 2,200 × 370 cm (height)
9 Color Spectrum, 2018, adhesive sheet, 2,200 × 370 cm (height)
9 Color Spectrum, 2018, adhesive sheet, 2,200 × 370 cm (height)
9 Color Spectrum, 2018, adhesive sheet, 2,200 × 370 cm (height)
9 Color Spectrum, 2018, adhesive sheet, 2,200 × 370 cm (height)
Day, 2019, adhesive sheet, 1,500 × 400 cm (height)
Day, 2019, adhesive sheet, 1,500 × 400 cm (height)
Day, 2019, adhesive sheet, 1,500 × 400 cm (height)
Blue Island, 2020, adhesive sheet, 1,570 × 335 cm (height)
This expansion has continued in recent works such as 9 Color Spectrum, Day, and Blue Island, which realize integrative environments based on graphic units. Originating from “found” information or data gleaned from the nonstop flood of images of contemporary life, these symbols are decontextualized to become part of a new utopian landscape. Suddenly adorned in vivid colors, these symbols herald the arrival of a new narrative and a different world. Depending on minute discrepancies in the ways that the deep chasm of light is exposed or amassed, the symbols become wind, rivers, mountains, or a landscape filled with clouds.