91青青草

Contemporary Design

The moment before the music begins by Nahyun Kim

This is an instrument which is Jangdok-shaped, a traditional Korean jar that is buried in the soil to ripen Kimchi. The reason why the food made in Jangdok is delicious is that until just before it comes out to the world, they adapted to the environment in the soil and prepared to become delectable. When we play this instrument, the moment we have to focus is not the moment when the sound comes out, but the moment when we adapt to this space, focusing solely on the instrument and all thoughts disappear. Wait for silence and concentration in your mind like the soil does.
five ceramic pots

If we can feel the moment before we make a sound, we will not simply make a sound, we will be immersed in the atmosphere, our every movement, and the sound. It is important to focus on sound, but the memory and movements are also principal.

five ceramic pots

This instrument can make sounds by hitting potteries with wooden sticks, by turning the sticks on their side, or scratching them up and down. The act of hitting with a wooden stick or scratching or turning the sides with a stick is what I did to make these potteries. In order to make the walls solid, I tapped countless times with my hands and turned a throwing wheel to make their shapes. I also made the walls thinner by moving my hands up and down on a throwing wheel. By making a sound with these movements, we can reminisce about the memories between the potteries and I, and talk to each other.

Through this work, I wanted to share the silent moment just before the music begins, the memory of the instrument from when it was the soil, the reminiscences of the scene I was creating, and the moment of silence that will make sound.

close-up of three ceramic pots

Medium: Clay, Wood, Sound

Photographs: Anne Kinnunen

More Personal Exploration projects:

three plants in pots and heaps of little ceramic creatures around them

Little Creatures by Nina Naver拧nik

鈥漁nce upon a time, when magic was still strong in all parts of the world, a curious event took place every spring. As the snow began to melt, revealing the first plants, sometimes, if you were lucky, the soil beneath your feet would come to life. They called them Little Creatures. Some say they carry messages, and should you listen closely, a little creature might have one for you.鈥

Contemporary Design
ceramic pots and vases in outdoors next to sea

Till Death Do Us Together by Sesilia Pirttimaa

Death does not part us, it unites us. We all die eventually. Ten hand-built raw clay vases have been left in nature to fall apart, disintegrate and dissolve into the environment, symbolizing the death of loved ones. The vases have been photographed daily to reveal their decomposition. The artist has not had to face the death of a close relative and the resulting grief that is inevitably coming. With this artwork, she wants to prepare for it and address the topic she fears.

Contemporary Design
text "if i don't remember this nobody will* repeated on a canvas

If I Don鈥檛 Remember This, Nobody Will by Zo毛 Robertson

The act of remembering takes its toll: each recall creates distance from the initial event, a memory of the memory. If I Don鈥檛 Remember This, Nobody Will manifests the intangible: what does forgetting look like?

Contemporary Design
  • Updated:
  • Published:
Share
URL copied!