Neolithic Korea and The Affinity 신석기로의 회귀, 미를 찾아 떠나는 여행

Photos by Aoife Casey

I have recently embarked on a collaborative body of work with my close friend and Ireland-based artist, Jennifer Murphy(www.facebook.com/jenmurphyphotos)). We have named this venture ‘The Affinity'(). We have chosen themes at random with each artist responding with a single image.

For the first theme, ‘Neolithic’, I drew inspiration from an exceptionally well presented exhibit at The Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul (http://ilmin.org/).  The exhibit, ‘Animism’, curated by Anselm Franke with Hyunjin Kim, is an impressive collection of works that “brings together a diverse body of work by international artists from the early twentieth century together with the museum’s own research archive. The show includes over 50 pieces by a total of 37 artists and teams from around the world.” As an artist, I have been fascinated for many years by the realms of magic and rituals. I was happy to see James George Frazer’s book ‘The Golden Bough’, which has a prominent place in my book collection and has been the starting point of many of my works, appears in the exhibition.

I was fascinated also by an Archaeology News Network report from 2012 about a new farming site discovered in Munam-ri, Gangwon Province.  As this is the first agricultural field from the Neolithic period that has been found in any East Asian country, the discovery reveals that the history of agricultural cultivation at least began during the period on the Korean Peninsula. Having completed my research, I set about making my image. Costume, accessories and props were handmade from fabrics from Dongdaemum market and a day trip to Baeksasil valley(백사실계곡) Park. Absence of hikers made this a great location for ‘Neolithic’. Attached are some outtakes from the day.

Contributoir, Aoife Casey

Aoife Casey is an Irish artist living and working in Seoul, Korea. She expresses problems of existence with performance, photo, sculpture, installation more than 10 years. She had a first solo exhibition in 2013, Seoul. She is in full activity with her own view as an artist in recent.

아일랜드 출신의 작가 이퍼 케이시는 10년 이상을 퍼포먼스, 조각, 설치, 사진 등의 작업을 통해 인간의 신체적 혹은 존재의 문제를 다루어 왔다. 2013년 부터 서울에 거주하며 한국 사회 속에 동화된 한 인간으로서 느끼는 경험을 작가적인 시각으로 풀어내고 있다.