ART-PRESENTATION: Lee Bul-Aubade III

Since 2005, Lee Bul has created massive installation works as part of her “Mon Grand Recit” series, based on her narratives related to the collective memory of Korea’s military dictatorship and her own experience as the daughter of political activists, and the life of Yi Gu, grandson of Emperor Gojong.

By Dimitris lempesis
Photo: Lehmann Maupin Gallery

As a part of France-Korea Year and in collaboration with the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), the Palais de Tokyo presents “Aubade III”. Through her works, Lee Bull has challenged conventional customs and stereotypes of society. She defied presentations of femininity with her deformed sculptures in the “Cyborg” series, which earned her fame in the global art world. A rocket-like installation, “Aubade III” emits mist into the air, making it look like an abandoned airship. “The Aubade III symbolizes the endeavors of human beings in their course to achieve their visions” said the artist. “Aubade III” develops the structure of an existing light tower. The word Aubade in the title refers to a song or poem about lovers separating at dawn, a popular trope of European lyric poetry from the Middle Ages to the 16th ?Century. In an Aubade, the image of dawn is typically used as a dramatic expression of unfulfilled romantic love. “Aubade III” is a huge installation that takes advantage of the high ceiling of the Palais de Tokyo exhibition space. The work is a visual representation of Bruno Taut’s “Monument des neunen Gesetzes”, as well as the Hindenburg airship, the symbol of modernity in the early 20th Century. Periodically, the exhibition space suddenly fills with white vapor that is emitted from inside the structure. This valor makes it impossible for the visitors to see, making it very easy for them to lose their sense of direction in the white space. Up near the top of the room, some dots of flickering red lights vaguely hint at some type of signpost. But as the vapor slowly dissipates, peoples vision returns, and they are presented with an astonishing scene of a monument and an airship, shining in the air above. However, this sight is not only entrancing, but also somewhat ominous, because the diagonal angle of the work makes it look like a projectile accelerating towards the airship. Moreover, large fragments from the airship float through the air, as if they will never disappear, and could fall to the ground at any time. As such, visitors are forced to reconsider the actual meaning beneath the dazzling appearance. Lee Bul actively questions the narratives presented by Modernist projects purportedly aimed at the freedom and liberation of humanity through the creation of utopia. Furthermore, she addresses the fantasy of perfection that has tantalized us throughout history. By forcing visitors to confront our futile desire for perfection, Lee Bul unreservedly presents a naked reality that most of us would prefer to avoid. Her work advance, both coldly and hotly, in the point that marks the crossroads between life and death, ugliness and beauty, secular and sacred, dream and existence. Info: Aubade III, Curators : Khairuddin Hori & KIM Hyoungmi, Palais De Tokyo, 13, avenue du Président Wilson, Paris, Duration: 21/10/15-10/1/16, Days & Hours: Wed-Mon 12:00-24:00, www.palaisdetokyo.com