MINHEE KANG

Tides of Time (2024)
Work Progress Documentation

Concept:

무력히 저물어가는 84세 한 여인이 잠을 자는 시간을 관찰하고 기록하는 것으로부터 작업은 출발하였다. 그녀에게 잠은 의식하에 존재하지 않는 시간, 죽음이 정지된 세계, 현실의 슬픔이 잊혀지는 곳이다. “천국에 가고싶어.” 기압이 떨어지고 머리가 아픈 그녀는 사탕을 입에 물고 잠에 든다. 그녀는 그렇게 눈을 감고 꿈을 꾼다. 시계가 걸린 방 안에서 그녀는 무의식 속으로 사라진다. 고요히 그녀만의 꿈속에서 무한히 확장되는 시간성 안에 잠긴다. 그곳은 시작도 끝도 없이 흐르는 깊은 어둠이자 빛이고 지나간 시간이자 다가오지 않은 시간이며 우리가 발을 딛고 서 있는 지구이자 광활한 미지의 우주다. 그녀가 수면 중에 온전히 들이마시고 내쉬는 호흡의 패턴은 그녀가 꿈속에 잠긴 duration을 기록하는 그녀만의 고유한 시간의 축이 된다.

방 시계소리는 희미해져 어느새 기억 저편으로 사라지고 무한히 일렁이는 시간 속 순수한 존재만이 누워있다. 그녀가 다다른 곳은 그녀가 바라던 피안의 세계일까?그녀가 두 눈을 꼭 감은채 꿈을 꾸는 동안 그녀의 숨은 방 안에 남아 피고 짐을 반복한다. 우리가 만지고 보고 들을 수 있는 살아있음을 노래한다.
*작업의 주체인 여인의 호흡 데이터가 실시간으로 전송되어 작동하는 무대 설치. 반복해서 들이 마시고 내쉬는 호흡의 리듬은 실시간으로 전시장 안 무대로 전송되어 물질화되고 공간화된다. 무대 안에서는 들숨과 날숨에 따라 수면 위 파도와 바람이 생성되고 작동되며 관객은 살아 움직임을 연출하는 시간성 안에서 개체와 연결되는 하나 됨의 몰입 경험을 한다.

The work began by observing and recording the sleeping hours of an 85-year-old woman (my grandmother) whose days were gradually fading in frailty. For her, sleep is a time outside consciousness—a suspended world where death momentarily recedes and the sorrows of reality dissolve. “I want to go to heaven,” she often says. When the air pressure drops and her head aches, she puts a candy in her mouth and falls asleep. With her eyes closed, she dreams. In the room where a clock subtly ticks every second, she quietly disappears into the unconscious, drifting into a time that expands infinitely. This time has neither beginning nor end. It is both darkness and light, a past that has slipped away and a future that has not yet come, the earth beneath us and a vast, uncharted cosmos. The pattern of her each inhale and exhale becomes her own axis of time, marking the duration of her immersion in dreams. The ticking of the room’s clock silently fades away, leaving only a pure presence floating in the endlessly trembling flow of time. Has she reached the distant shore she longed for? As she dreams with her eyes firmly closed, her breath lingers in the room—rising and falling, blooming and receding—bearing witness to her fragile yet undeniable aliveness.

The stage installation is driven by the woman’s breath data transmitted in real time. The repeated rhythm of inhalation and exhalation is sent directly onto the stage within the exhibition space, where it materializes and spatializes into physical phenomena. Within the stage environment, waves and wind emerge in response to her breath, and the audience enters an immersive experience of unity—encountering the living temporality shaped by the presence of another being.

*Scenographic portrait, Presence, Embodiment, Dis-embodiment, Telematics, Data physicalization, Data spatialization, Live Connection, 현재성
*data is materialized into rippling water’s light reflection, fluidity, humidity, acoustic, temperature, haptic + wind, scent

While the work prioritizes real-time data transmission, the system is designed to automatically revert to pre-recorded data whenever real-time input becomes unavailable or unstable. Four ripple-generating flaps, made with Plexiglas and aluminum, were driven by stepper motors set to move in synchrony in response to the data.

The scent used in this exhibition was created in collaboration with olfactory artist Yidan Kim, drawing inspiration from a recorded conversation with the breathing subject of this project.

It is designed to follow the sequence of her personal journey into a dreamscape: a virtual world she enters as she falls asleep with grape-flavored candy in her mouth. The candy’s sweetness soothes her, allowing her to momentarily forget the physical pain of her illness and drift into a dreamlike state of unconsciousness. The scent unfolds in layers, guiding the audience through the ethereal terrain of the digitally mediated timespace of her unconscious.

Top: Citrusy scent, reminiscent of grapes
Top-Middle: Watery, crystal-clear freshness, like the feeling of a serene ocean breeze
Middle: Smoky, with an enigmatic, veiled essence that blends organic, natural elements with an unexpected, artificial undertone. This layer subtly captures the synthetic essence of digital media frequency.
Base: Deep grounding scent of balsam resin, rich with a sticky, balsamic, and spicy warmth. It lingers mysteriously, heavy with a sense of subconscious presence.

Installing

The hydrophone was placed inside the hollow driftwood to capture the ripple sounds with greater reverberance, and the audio, processed through a mixing console, was played back through speakers.