Sulki & Min: Clarifying & Obscuring exhibition

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Sulki and Min

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Photo: Yan Fei, courtesy of Transtage / XYZ Labour

Sulki & Min: Clarifying & Obscuring

exhibition
2024

Sulki & Min: Clarifying & Obscuring was the first comprehensive presentation of our work in China. Following is the curators’ statement.

The opportunity to host the exhibition Sulki & Min: Clarifying & Obscuring originated from the the small book Explained. The book served as the foundation for curating the exhibition, while the exhibition served as the reason for publishing Explained, creating a mutually reflective relationship.

Through this exhibition, it is hoped that the audience can reconsider the correlation between exhibition and publication and thereby establish different experiences of viewing:

1. Within the exhibition space, visitors can pick up Explained to read and explore the corresponding numbered artwork based on the explanation.
2. Visitors can directly observe the artwork and then refer to Explained by its number to find the corresponding explanation.
3. Visitors are entitled to disregard Explained, focusing on observing the artwork itself or envision explanation based on their own perceptions.
4. After the exhibition, visitors are encouraged to independently read Explained and imagine artwork based on its content.
5. For those interested in gaining deeper insights into Sulki & Min’s practice, they have an option to purchase both Explained along with Explained Explained.
6. …

In summary, the audience is free to choose their preferred approach when engaging with this exhibition: either purely enjoying visual experiences conveyed by artworks or, alternatively, adopting a textual approach to delve into the concepts underlying the artworks—reflecting Sulki & Min’s methods and attitudes towards understanding things and the world.

Since 2000, Sulki & Min have actively sought their path through a fusion of design practice, writing, publishing, teaching, and artistic endeavors, navigating the geopolitical intersection between Asia and the West. By transcending national boundaries and establishing connections across borders, they have constructed a new local context that has become a shared source of inspiration for young Korean designers—what we refer to as “design enlightenment.” We hope that audiences could perceive the intensive labor of Sulki & Min over the past two decades within this exhibition, regarding them as reference points within their own genealogy, prompting introspection and attention towards their own selves.