SMSM10

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Sulki and Min

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Photo: Kim Sang-tae

SMSM

Solo exhibition
2019
Audio Visual Pavilion, Seoul
10–30 October

This was a tenth-anniversary semi-retrospective of SMSM, which doubled as the closing exhibition of the Audio Visual Pavilion’s Seochon space. The show revisited the works that the collective had done since 2009, sampling, reframing, and reworking them for the occasion. It also included pointers to the works by the individual members that had been exhibited in the same space, which were presented at the same spots as the originals recalling the memory of the place. At the opening, the visitors were invited to play Rock, Paper, Scissors with Sasa[44]: the winners, then, were allowed to consult with a guest fortune teller. The exhibited works are as follows:

SMSM, 「The Power of Color」, 2009/2019. Paint on the wall. 159 × 122 cm. Adapted from a work exhibited as part of the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art Handspan Gallery Health Center Project, Ansan Danwon Health Center, 2009–10. “The palette we employed this time is based on the color therapy theory developed by Dr. Morton Walker in his book The Power of Color (1991).” (SMSM, The Power of Color [Ansan: Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art / Seoul: Specter Press, 2009], 16)

Nine graphic design students from Kaywon University of Art and Design, 「Captions for MeeNa Park’s August Sky and August Sky (Color Collecting)」, 2018. UV printing on metal plate. 2 pieces, 14 × 24 cm each. Exhibited in December December, AVP, 2018–19. “In the summer of 2018, in a classroom of Visual Communication Design at Kaywon University of Art and Design, we received an assignment to suggest a new graphic identity for December.” (Introduction to December December, AVP website)

SMSM, 「Ideal Dining Table for the Designer Mr. K」, 2012. Plastic food models on wooden table. 120 × 85 × 73 cm. Diet prescriptions by Kim Se-won and Kim Hye-ryeon. Food models by Jung Jongil. Woodwork by Yu Ju-yeol. Exhibited in Life A User’s Manual, Culture Station Seoul 284, 2012. “[SMSM] propose ideal diets for two designers after observing their eating habits, without revealing who they are.” (Kim Sung Won, Life A User’s Manual [Korea Craft & Design Foundation, 2012], 15)

Sasa[44], 「Sasa[44] Annual Report 2018」, 2019. Offset lithography on paper. 840 × 594 mm

Sasa[44], 「a#26-81-v2」, 2013. Digital printing on paper. 50 × 70 cm. Typography by Karl Nawrot. Exhibited in No Mountain High Enough, AVP, 2013–14. “Sasa[44]’s last act of featuring as a gesture of explicit support for someone else was probably his 「What Is This?」, presented at the inaugural exhibition of the Audio Visual Pavilion in 2013, No Mountain High Enough.” (Lim Geun-Jun, 「Sasa[44」, Ungmang [Ilmin Cultural Foundation / Workroom Specter, 2018], 196–8)

SMSM, 「A School Motto」, 2015. Lacquer on glass, wood panel and frame. 40 × 52 cm. Exhibited in Megastudy, AVP, 2015. “MC Square is a study-assisting device that came out in the early 1990s, and it was supposed to improve concentration. … There was this promotional item they’d give out, a green plastic sheet to place under a sheet of paper when writing. It was blank but for a line of text in the corner, which said that looking at a green field would enhance your concentration.” (SMSM, Megastudy [AVP, 2016], 63)

SMSM, 「Energy!」, 2011/2019. Drink bottles and LED displays. Dimensions variable. Adapted from a work exhibited in Gwangju Design Biennale 2011. “The presentation of the work Energy! was hilarious. The collective SMSM bought every energy drink on sale at every service station along the Seoul-Gwangju highway. 77 different products were collected. Then they mixed all of them.” (Review of Gwangju Design Biennale 2011, Joongang Sunday, 4 September 2011)

MeeNa & Sasa[44], 「Interview 20170903 AVP」, 2017. Single-channel video. 62 min. Videography by Sla Cha. Exhibited in Floor Plan Cabinet, AVP, 2017. “We make a perfect floor print on work. Sasa[44] and I have something in common. The most fundamental thing about working together is an early decision. … At first we try to be as precise as possible. In that way, things don’t go wrong and I can finish my work at the end.” (Park MeeNa, Floor Print Cabinet [AVP, 2017], 9)

Sasa[44], 「Rehab 180117–190115」, 2019. Single-channel video. 13 parts, ㄷeach appx. 30 sec.

SMSM, 「You Are Here (In the Form of Dance)」, 2010. Custom-made inflatable sign. Dimensions variable. Exhibited in Festival Bo:m 2010. “The idea is to physically mark the venues by dancing in front of the buildings. For it would be rather difficult … to dance all the time during the festival, they have decided to put up ‘something’ to replace themselves.” (Festival Bo:m 2011 program, 57)

MeeNa Park, 「Yellow Green Scream」, 2016/2019. Digital printing on paper. 100 × 100 cm. Photo by Kim Sang-tae. Installation view of an eponymous painting exhibited in Scream, AVP, 2016. “Rows of upside down and repeating heart shapes, fields of silver stars, and grids determine the relative size and position of Charlie Brown’s face on canvas. The screaming mouth reveals a heart at the back of the throat, and the surrounding rings visualize sound waves echoing low- and high-pitched voices.” (Introduction to Scream, AVP website)

Choi Sulki, 「AVP Laundry」, 2017. Site-specific sound installation. 9 min. 26 sec. Exhibited in 8 Works, Collections of the Artists, AVP, 2017. “「AVP Annex」 and 「AVP Laundry」 are works remade to be suited to the space of AVP from Space Hamilton 1F included in Really? (2010), a solo exhibition of Sulki Choi held at Space Hamilton in 2010. … The space dealt by Sulki Choi in this exhibition is the guest room of AVP and the laundry room of AVP, and the signifiers indicating ‘actual objects’ become the sounds.” (Yoon Jeewon, 8 Works, Collections of the Artists [AVP, 2017], 73)

SMSM, 「Another Moon」, 2016/2019. Single-channel video. Duration 21 days. Photography by EH. Adapted from 「Two Moons and Another Moon」 / 「Another Moon Is a TV」, exhibited in As the Moon Waxes and Wanes, MMCA, Gwacheon, 2016–17. “SMSM’s meta-abstract video interprets two works from the MMCA collection: 「Two Moons」 by Kim Whanki and 「Moon Is the Oldest TV」 by Nam June Paik. It illustrate the phase of the moon by the changing shape of a pop rice. The snack was eaten and photographed bite by bite to yield 208 pictures of its progression. The pictures were then displayed in sequence, one image per day, corresponding to the revolution of the Moon.” (Unpublished material circulated to the docents for As the Moon Waxes and Wanes, MMCA, Gwacheon, 2016)

Sulki and Min, 「Decorative Information」, 2013/2019. Digital printing on paper. 120 × 60 cm. Reconstruction drawing of a work exhibited in No Mountain High Enough, AVP, 2013–14. “No Mountain High Enough originated from a ‘delusion’ that attempts to view and reestablish the maps of Mt. Inwang and its surroundings from the perspective of contemporary artists.” (Hyun Seewon, 「Exhibition Note」, No Mountain High Enough [AVP, 2016], 21)

SMSM, 「The Power of Color AVP」, 2017/2019. Single-channel video. 5 min. Adapted from 「The Power of Color 2017」, preresented in Seoullo Media Canvas Opening Exhibition, Manri-dong Square, 2017

Opening Performances:

Sasa[44], 「Rock, Paper, Scissors」, 2016/2019. 180 min. Adapted from a work performed as part of an eponymous exhibition, AVP, 2016. “Those that come to the exhibition will play rock-paper-scissors with the artist for 44 minutes. If the artist loses the game…” (Introduction to Rock, Paper, Scissors, AVP website)

SMSM, 「4 Pillars of Destiny?」, 2019. 180 min. Fortune telling by Kong Ahmi