Thursday, November 21st, 2013, 19.00 (opening)
Yumi Kori
Mon – Portable Infinity Device – Architectural Object
Mon – Portable Infinity Device (2006)
Materials: Museum board, acrylic panel; Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 10 cm
All my installations are site-specific. I attempt to change the way in which the viewer
perceives the context and the meaning of an already existing space. By installing a variety of
elements, I strive to reevaluate the various relationships existent between different people in
society, and between internal and external. I explore and redefine the flow of space and
time. For me, space and time are compatible ideas. Space is perceived through one’s
temporal experience, and time is experienced through the movement of physical space. My
installations are architectural. Here, the word architectural is meant to differentiate my
concept from the traditional meanings of the word sculptural. My installations invite viewers
to inhabit a place and to explore it within and outside. They also work as framing devices;
viewers are invited to discover new sections and perspectives of an existing space. Portable
Infinity Device is a portable architecture. It is not a sculpture to look at. It creates a space
within. Viewers are invited to enter the space by looking into the doorways. It also works as a
portable installation device that changes the viewer’s perception about the site around it.
Since this device generates “infinity” anywhere when it is installed, viewer finds the fact that
“small space can be vast” or “space is not limited, the size of the space changes depending
on how you look at it“. Portable Infinity Device creates “Infinity” by the magical effect of
light. There is no outside light sauce, but inside of the device is gleaming. The architectural
detail of this device collects light around it and gives a effect on human perception. Thus,
Portable Infinity Device is light installation work. In modern society, all the space is measured
and counted, but space will never be countable. I would like to communicate with people
that space is unlimited and it all is depending on human perception.
[Yumi Kori]
Yumi Kori
Yumi Kori is a Japanese-born artist and architect based in New York and Tokyo. From 1996 to
2004, she was active as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia and Barnard College and
has taught Japanese architecture seminars and design studios. Additionally, she has lectured
at many other Universities including Yale University, Parsons the new School for Design,
Nagoya Institute of Technology Japan, and University of Brasilia. Along with her architectural
projects and set designs for dance companies, Kori has created numerous art projects. She
works with the context of the place and transforms it into another space by using light, sound
and architectural settings. Her installations invite visitors to walk into the space. Audiences
experience the altered space through their body and senses. Thus the visitor discovers new
spatial and temporal dimensions hidden in the existing space. Projects have been realized in
public space, ruins, abandoned buildings and museums throughout the world, including New
York, Seattle, Washington DC, Berlin, Basel, São Paulo and Tokyo. She has been invited by
numerous art organizations, such as Urban Glass, NY in 2009; Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh in
2008; Sacatar Foundation in Bahia, Brazil 2008; Guest Atelier at Warteck, Basel, Switzerland
2006; Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Swing Space in 2005; and ISCP, International Studio
Curatorial Program, NY in 2004.
http://www.yumikori.com