Again, Multiplicities of Rewilding

The 2024 Geumgang Nature Art Biennale will reflect on Shelter’s natural ‘phase in nature,’ which is called a hiding place by entering nature under the theme of ‘Shelter in the Forest II.’ Shelters have transformed into various forms, ranging from ‘discovered shelters’ such as caves that avoided cold and heat waves in the Paleolithic nomadic era and protected their bodies from the threat of wild animals, to ‘made shelters’ such as huts and houses in the Neolithic settlement era, and ‘expanding shelters’ such as villages and countries surrounded by walls in the Bronze Age civilization era. 

Despite these changes, Shelter’s original meaning, called the ‘space of persimmons,’ is positioned as a space of metaphor called the ‘Jonah Complex’ interpreted by French philosopher Gaston Bache -lard. It is a metaphor for Bachelard’s explaining the calm and peaceful atmosphere conveyed by the ‘space of persimmons’ such as ‘shells, corners, drawers, closets, and houses.’ Like the character of the Old Testament, ‘In the Whale Boat where Jonah lived,’ the space surrounding everywhere is as peaceful and comfortable as the ‘mother’s womb,’ where we were a fetus. Shelter’s ‘space of persimmons’ is with human life from the first space, such as the mother’s womb, to the last space, such as a tomb. 

In an era of environmental crises such as global warming and catastrophe, the Biennale will ask back and seriously reflect on what the ecological environment we need today by building another type of nature art called Shelter in the Forest. In order to realize this theme, the Biennale first sets the forest as a large shelter. It is like summoning a large bowl of primitive incense (源始鄕), where humans and animals coexisted in the huge arms of nature. 

Participating artists reflect on ‘human beings in nature’ and ‘restoring nature-art-human relationships’ through ‘shelters that rebuild art on the ecosystem of nature.’ Some visualize the natural scenery itself as a shelter, while others make the shapes of animals, plants, humans, and structures into shelters. The artworks are mixed with some artificial materials centering on natural materials such as straw, soil, terracotta, and stones. Participating artists bring these materials together in ways such as knots, adhesions, and aggregation, and present ‘Shelter in the Forest’ that appeals to the viewer’s five senses of visiting the Yeonmisan Nature Art Park through light, color, sound, and smell. In this sense, we can introduce the Biennale as a ‘shelter that rebuilds into art’ or ‘shelter that coexists with nature’ in the ecosystem of nature. 

 Kim Sung-Ho / Art Critic