1:60 by Jeongwon Eom

The Korean Culture Centre UK presents Jeongwom Eom’s first solo show in the United Kingdom, entitled 1:60.

Eom investigates how one person can use a series of self-measurements to creatively visualise their environment. Three jurors selected Eom’s winning proposal out of over 40 applicants. Matt Williams (curator of the Institute of Contemporary Arts), Aaron Cezar (director of the Delfina Foundation), and Kirsty Ogg (director of New Contemporaries) were the three jurors.

We were introduced to the artist by the KKCUK’s exhibition curator, Jeyun Moon. Jeyun asked us to guide Eom in improving and enhancing the exhibit display, layout, and exhibition lighting. As with most artists, Eom had powerful and different ideas on how her artwork should be displayed and lit. Nevertheless, Eom always kept an open mind while we guided her with my design expertise and experience.

The title of the exhibition, “1:60,” refers to the inclusion of 60 guests on opening night. These guests were provided with various coloured pens to trace their outlines on the gallery’s walls and street-facing windows. The impact, engagement, and results were quite extraordinary. The long corridor gallery of white walls and floor-to-ceiling window glass required an even wash of light. This lighting solution would be comfortable for the 60 performers’ eyes while highlighting their combined artworks effectively.

At this time, the Korean Cultural Centre was not equipped with wall wash fittings to formulate a nice, cool wash of even light. Nonetheless, we overcame this by using track lighting and fittings fitted with 60-degree soft filters. Overall, this contemporary art exhibition posed many more challenges than the previous exhibitions my team and I had worked on at the Korean Cultural Centre. In addition, the 1:60 exhibit was particularly challenging due to the varied content of the art on display.

As you can see from the video below, the overall design, implementation, and solutions worked fabulously. Most importantly, the performers had oodles of enjoyment communicating their art with people walking past the gallery windows. These people became part of the art installation itself, as the artist’s philosophy initially intended.

One of the main features of this art exhibition was a video installation. This art installation used multi-channel projects mounted on a bike frame that revolved. A domestic cake mixer was used to rotate this sculpture. As the art installation turned and pivoted, it projected images around the gallery walls in a blacked-out space, never stopping in a continuous cycle.

Lastly, we assisted Eon with the final placement of each art piece to maximise its effect on viewing and to provide optimal lighting for the various art installations. The whole installation, from start to finish, was outstanding! 1:60 provided an unseen interaction between the artist, artwork, and viewer, questioning the way we view the world from a different perspective.

Some weeks later, out of the blue, we received a lovely surprise from Eon. She sent us a publication of her latest work, including a thoughtful inscription thanking us for all our advice, collaboration, and hard work.