Artist reveals inner life through 108 sufferings

The objects are spread on the floor and fill the room. There are old teacups, a comb and a sweat-stained ball, each attached to small LED lamps, like flickering Christmas lights.
Each time the lights shine the objects are given a new life; but the next moment, the lights die out and so do the objects; the patterns repeat like the breathing of a cricket.
Indeed “Microhome” by U Sunok, her latest installation at the Kukje Gallery, is like a visual diary of the artist’s belongings and the memories attached to them.
There are stories that go with each object taken from the artist’s home ― there are 108 of them in the gallery (the number refers to Buddhist teaching, which says that a man’s life has 108 sufferings in the past, present and future).
In a separate room, in an 8-minute video, the artist holds a match in one hand and an object in the other as she delivers personal anecdotes about each object. The narrations are spontaneous, with no written text. The frequent pauses and fragmented words are a poignant reflection of how we associate certain objects in our memory of time and space.

U Sun-ok’s “Microhome” runs through Dec. 23 at Kukje Gallery. To get to the gallery get off at Anguk subway station, line No. 3, exit 1. The gallery is a 20-minute walk from the station. For more information call (02) 735-8449. The gallery is closed on Sundays.

by Park Soo-mee