Heejung Choi: ‘I found my shadow after a long time’
Heejung Choi, I found my shadow after a long time, 2024. Single-channel video, stereo sound, FHD, 16 min 17 sec. All rights reserved by the artist.
About the Work
Heejung Choi integrates her videos with found footage and excerpts from Adelbert von Chamisso’s 1814 novella, Peter Schlemihl’s Miraculous Story, a German Romantic tale blending fantasy, moral allegory and social commentary. The story centres around Peter Schlemihl, who sells his shadow for a bottomless bag of gold, only to face dire consequences. Choi explores the human condition under neoliberalism by contrasting everyday scenes of Hamburg with hands playing with slime and flour, symbolizing sensory experiences and personal memories, particularly her grandmother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s. Interspersed footage of data labelling underscores AI’s erasure of diverse human experiences. Choi juxtaposes inhumane automation with repetitive, memory-restoring activities, reflecting on humanity’s overlooked ontology in a profit-driven era.
About the Artist
Heejung Choi (b. 1987; based in Seoul, South Korea) is an artist whose works focus on how we relate to others and our environment. She looks at different social issues that make it hard to have genuine connections in today’s world of financial capitalism, and she expresses these observations through experimental films and documentaries. Recent exhibitions include Project Space Sarubia, Seoul (2024); BOAN1942, Seoul (2023); Chang Ucchin Museum of Art, Yangju (2023); and Kunsthalle Bremen (2014).
About EMAP x FRIEZE FILM SEOUL
For the third year in a row, Frieze Film returns to Frieze Seoul 2024. This year’s programme is presented in partnership with Ewha Media Art Presentation (EMAP) and is on view from 2 – 6 September at Ewha Womans University and online at frieze.com.
Curated by Joowon Park and Valentine Umansky, this year’s programme is titled ‘All that Weaves the Universe: Of Quantum Entanglements’. It brings together time-based media works of 37 international artists, unfolding under eight chapters.
