Jiji Kim: ‘Mermaid's Night’
Jiji Kim, Mermaid’s Night, 2022. Single-channel HD video, stereo sound, colour, 3 min 30 sec. All rights reserved by the artist
About the Work
Jiji Kim explores the complex interplay between reality and fantasy through the character Ha-Nyeo, who represents deep-seated human desires and fears. Mermaid’s Night examines how dreams and unconscious imagery can materialize using a unique approach: Kim meticulously creates a paper set, assembling dream-inspired images in a tangible world. By intentionally degrading image clarity with diffusers and lighting techniques and capturing it with a smartphone camera, she enhances the ambiguity of analogue media while maintaining digital precision. Mermaid’s Night invites viewers to reflect on the boundaries of perception, the depths of the subconscious mind and the delicate relationship between reality and illusion.
About the Artist
Jiji Kim (b. 1988; based in Seoul, South Korea) explores the boundaries between digital and analogue, transforming dream-inspired images into reality. She examines how mythic imagery generates a new aura in contemporary contexts and investigates the relationship between reproductions and their originals. Utilizing a first-person perspective, Kim’s work weaves dreamlike narratives through nonlinear structures and rapid editing. By excluding language in her videos, she challenges rationalist paradigms and probes the complexities of human nature. Her installations – encompassing video, photography and interactive media – explore the interaction between the virtual and the real, shedding light on how technology influences identity and social dynamics.
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 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 8 chapters.
