In the last few years we have seen projects that combined creative disciplines and science, in some cases these projects and experiments were developed by the Arts at CERN programme.
South Korean artist, electroacoustic music composer and founder of Studio Locus Solus in Seoul, Yunchul Kim is among the ones who was invited to do a creative research there.
Come September, though, it will be possible to see Yunchul Kim's works at the first solo exhibition dedicated to this artist and winner of the 5th COLLIDE International Award, at the Korean Cultural Centre in London (KCCUK).
"Dawns, Mine, Crystal" (17th September - 3rd November 2018) comprises installations, drawings and sketchbooks and premieres the new work "Cascade" (2018), a joint commission by KCCUK, FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, Liverpool) and Arts at CERN.
In his practice Kim has been working within the realm of contemporary media art and audiovisual effects, producing objects and installations that transfer cosmic radiation, and acoustic or vibrating impulses into images. In his universe alchemy, astrophysics and new technologies are all combined together in artworks that integrate reactors, magnets, motors, micro-controllers, valves, glass beakers, home-made detectors and microfluidic devices.
Kim then tracks data in notebooks, but he remains an artist interested in creating dynamic art pieces rather than a scientist or an educator.
The title of the exhibition moves from the work of Raymond Roussel, a pioneer of experimental writing, but the main theme revolves on a "world of materials". Kim conceives indeed a material not merely as a basis for creating forms and images, but as the main protagonist for creation itself.
One of the starting points of "Dawns, Mine, Crystal" is the artistic potential of fluid dynamics and metamaterials: "Cascade" is for example a fluid kinetic installation resulting from Kim's two-month residency at Arts at CERN and one-month at FACT as part of the Collide International Residency Award.
Suspended in the gallery space, "Cascade" consists of 18 meter-long interconnecting transparent tubes containing fluid in constant circulation. Exploring the artistic potential of fluid dynamics (the science of liquids and gases in motion), the work investigates the possibility of controlling the propagation of light through colloidal suspension of photonic crystals.
Works such as "Argos" (2018), an installation that calls to mind for its shape and structure the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) , explores instead the fundamental changes evoked when the relationship between matter and force is reassembled, while "Effulge" features six panels filled with a photonic crystal (nanosized iron grains in a liquid suspension that gets stirred by air pumps).
Some of the artworks included in this event such as "Cascade" will be part of "Quantica", a touring exhibition by Collide residency artists travelling to FACT in November 2018, that will then stop at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona in Spring 2019, so the London event is a great way to get to know Yunchul Kim's works, his practice and the main themes of his experimental art and science pieces.
Image credits for this post
Yunchul Kim, Argos, 2018, Gelger Müller tube, glass, aluminium, micro controller, Courtesy the artist
Yunchul Kim, Cascade, 2016, PDMS, motor, micro tube, micro-controller, acrylic, non-pulsating pump, solenoid valve, Courtesy the artist
Yunchul Kim, Effulge, 2012-14, Acrylic, glass, aluminium, photonic crystal, neodymium, motor, electronic mico controller, electromagnetic field generator, air pump, Courtesy the artist
Yunchul Kim, Eluvial Horizon, 2015, Acrylic, distilled water, paramagnet pigment, Courtesy the artist
Yunchul Kim, Flare, 2014, Flare Solution, Motor, Micro-controller, Double Jacketed Reactor, Courtesy the artist
Yunchul Kim, Triaxial Pillars II, 2017, Acrylic, aluminium, photonic crystal, neodymium, motor, electronic micro controller, electromagnetic field generator, air pump, Courtesy the artist
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