This selection invites us to rethink where we stand in the world at a given time. In this troubled age, it is hardly a coincidence that world-renowned cultural venues and luxury brands are bringing this debate centre stage. These two artists, whose works are tinged with activism, invite us to reflect on this in the light of the traditions passed down to us, without overlooking the impact of our instinctive actions.
What sets apart the work of Korean artist Kim Sooja is its ability to connect the public to its environment, and to focus its attention on the natural world around it. At the Bourse de Commerce in Paris, she disrupts architectural perspective with the installation of a mirrored floor. This reflective device invites visitors to explore the central hall, consciously creating a constellation of viewpoints that transforms the void into a series of snapshots, weaving a special bond with the building. Tadao Ando’s anchoring points resonate with this invisible canvas, allowing emptiness and infinity to join forces.
KIMSOOJA, Thread Roots, De Lakenhal, Leiden, 2024 © Bram Vreugdenhil
A Needle Woman, Galaxy was a Memory, Earth is a Souvenir, 2014, Yorkshire Sculpture Park © Jan Liegois
AIUIaa, Desert X, 2024 © Lance Gerber
Exhibited and championed by Axel Vervoordt, Kim Sooja explores the human condition, infusing her work with a universality that is accessible to all. She plays on the “bottari”, a sphere of coloured fabric traditionally used to bundle together personal belongings when travelling, as a concrete testimony to migrations and cultures. The metaphor of the needle enables her to address the issue of anchoring in a world marked by violence and destruction, in which art becomes a source of oxygen. In communion with nature, wind and light, a film-covered glass spiral diffracts the sun’s rays, creating an iridescent sculpture. In 2023, she installed a rock in the open air, positioned exactly on a meridian, the intangible circle uniting the north and south of the Earth, thereby reiterating the idea of creating an invisible link between humanity and the world.
Meridiano, Mexico, 2023 © Diego Flores
