MODERNISM PRESENTS: ALEXANDMUSHI
___ DAYS SINCE I’VE KNOWN YOU
MARCH 26—MAY 31, 2020
“It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each
other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is.”
Herman Hesse.
MODERNISM presents (at MODERNISM WEST / Foreign Cinema) the new
exhibition by ALEXANDMUSHI: ___ Days Since I’ve Known you. Core to
any connection between two people is the ability to recognize and see
one another. So how do we get to know someone for who they are?
ALEXANDMUSHI is the collaboration between Alex H Nichols and Mushi
Wooseong James. As conceptual artists they ask critical questions
about what connection can be. Their project called Still Conversations
began when Mushi’s US visa ran out, putting their collaboration in
jeopardy with his return to Seoul. “How can we continue to work,
build projects and stay connected living in two different
countries?” ‘Staying in touch’ isn’t enough to maintain
creative chemistry and growth. All relationships have potential energy
but how is that energy harnessed remotely? How do you really get to
know someone from afar?
Innovating with the basic tool of being able to send an image
instantly ALEXANDMUSHI created a simple playful project with an
unexpectedly powerful outcome. The directive was, “Take a picture of
yourself. Send it to me. I copy it and make a new one for you to
copy.” Every morning an image was sent and received seconds after it
was taken. What happens when you copy someone’s body? What do you
feel? What happens if you copy it day after day? In the first image
you see a man’s body curled in a red chair, fingers long and
delicate wrapped around toes. Next to it is another image of a
woman’s body curled in the exact same position on a white chair.
From this simple action of mimicry and a commitment to the project,
Alex and Mushi uncovered a concrete method towards a deeper knowing of
each other.
On the surface this project is a conversation in still photography
between a man in Seoul and a woman in San Francisco. Beyond the
surface is active empathy, an interchange of thoughts and feelings,
the experience of inhabiting another person, transferring both what is
conscious and unconscious while bridging the gap that exists between
Seoul and San Francisco. It is not apparent at first glance of the
side-by-side images that there is actual distance. Time is marked on
each artwork as Day 57 or Day 1171 in their collaboration. Unique to
this series of works is their personal handwritten stories that reveal
the individual identities of Alex and Mushi in their full-time
collaboration.
In addition, ALEXANDMUSHI present their other projects, Chair
Conversations and Two Chairs, which also explore communication and
connection. They showcase these projects in a new form which combines
the tactile element of a still printed image with the animated element
of video. An image of two people is printed on rice paper, which has a
quality of history like etched Rembrandts, this is the frozen image.
Behind it is the video, the shadows of the same people moving across
the image, their movements before, during and after. ALEXANDMUSHI
believe our experience of time is both static and moving and that
connection is both a present and fleeting experience.
ALEXANDMUSHI’s process is their practice. Each of their projects
begin with an active desire to connect. Conversation, story, video,
image, and performance come together to synthesize and share the
experience of connection.
https://alexandmushi.com/ [https://alexandmushi.com/]
cinema
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28/03/2020 Last update