installation, mixed media (fleece fabric, 10light boxes with drawings), 25'X29'
Free-contact is inspired by the division of Korea. Families were forced to live separately, in pain and dreaming of reuniting
I divided the gallery space in two by building a soft orange fabric wall. There is a separate entrance for each of two halves of the room. Viewers enter the two halves and interact with each other through the fabric wall, without being able to see the person on the other side.
Each wall panel invites the two sides to a specific interaction/gesture. Hugging, holding hands, shaking hands, sitting on the other's lap
The two walls opposite to each side of the fabric wall have five drawings each. Each drawing is inside a black light box, and a magnifying glass allows the viewer to peer into it.
The drawings display pairs of people hugging, shaking hands, holding hands, one person sitting on the other's lap, or holding one's arm around the other's waist, informing the viewers how to interact with the wall.
Melville Library Gallery, Stony Brook, NY
X Initiative, New York, NY