Yoojin Lee
Yoojin Lee, Lie down: a prelude, 2018/2022, performance view from How Rest the Brave at Nest, The Hague, NL, 2022
Yoojin Lee, To sleep in a world without lullaby (Znamya), Lie down: a prelude, Who falls asleep? and I like to stay horizontal, 2018, installation view from How Rest the Brave at Nest, The Hague, NL, 2022
Yoojin Lee, Nite Gestures 10-11-2022-10-12-2022, 2022, installation view from Standby, the light wavers at SEAGER, London, UK, 2022
Yoojin Lee, detail of fall(sss), 2023, installation view from InSomnolence at Agora du coeur des sciences, UQAM, Montreal, CA, 2023
To sleep in a world without lullaby (Znamya), 2018
hand embroidery on textile, reflective textile, used-up tube lights, strapsZnamya, meaning ‘banner’, was a series of orbital mirror experiments in the 1990s that aimed to reflect sunlight towards Earth and turn night into day. Based on Chapter 6 from the publication As long as there is time to sleep by Yoojin, To sleep in a world without lullaby (Znamya) holds together materials and gestures that engage with the relationship between illumination and circulation, activity and inactivity. The two sides of the work oscillate between red and grey. Fluctuating movement of arrows, switches and the non-stop temporality of 24/7 are hand-embroidered in a fluorescent colour that seems as if it will continue to glow without a source of light, while the edges of the ‘banner’ reflect any light encountered. The pale bodies of used-up, exhausted tube lights hold up this ‘banner’.
Introduction (HOVERBED), 2018/2024
pen on photocopy of found poster, aluminium tape
Based on Chapter 1 from the publication As long as there is time to sleep by Yoojin, Introduction (HOVERBED) introduces a loft bed that saves space and, with the scribbled annotation, also, time. Spatial and temporal structures merge, collide or hover, in search of ‘the right place’. The advertisement was originally found in a street in New York City. For Lavender, Hibernation and Neon at the Crypt Gallery, Introduction (HOVERBED) is installed in the gallery as well as at multiple locations in the surrounding areas including Euston Station, which is one of the earliest train stations to operate. This spatial and historical context relates to the early standardisation, syncronisation and, therefore, optimisation of time implied in the adoption of ‘railway time’.
Low Time, 2024
performative reading, recording of the Shepherd Gate Clock at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Low Time is a new performative reading set against the mechanical rhythm of the Shepherd Gate Clock at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, which is known as the first clock to continuously display and distribute Greenwich Mean Time. With its link to commerce, transport and communication, the standardisation of time through GMT connects the harnessing of time to enlightenment and productivity. In Low Time, the ticking of the clock time is stretched, amplifying a different texture and its intensity present within the structure of rigid regularity. A low voice reads out fleeting notes, thoughts and questions around experiences of time and her position in a 24/7 world. Going low against the mechanisation, rationalisation and standardisation of bodies, desires and time.
About Yoojin Lee
Yoojin Lee works across and in-between performance, installation, text, sound and video to embody ways of becoming and knowing. Her work engages with seemingly quiet, less noticed but persistent forms of resistance and relating that unfold through multiple temporalities, such as sleep, sloth and slowness. She sleeps in London.
Solo exhibitions include: Standby, the light wavers, Seager, London (2022); slowth (habitats), Titanik, Turku (2020); As long as there is time to sleep, bb15, Linz (2018). Other selected exhibitions and performances have taken place at: Centrale Fies, Dro (2023); Agora du coeur des sciences, UQAM, Montreal (2023); Nest, The Hague (2022); Ada X, Montreal (2022); arebyte, London (2019); Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea (2019). Recent residencies and fellowships include: Live Works Vol. 10 Fellowship, Centrale Fies, Dro (2023); The Sociability of Sleep, Université de Montréal and McGill University, Montreal (2023); London Performance Studios, London (2022). She holds a BFA from Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam.
Friday 05 April 2024 (RSVP)
7pm: Low Time by Yoojin Lee