heige kim

Heige Kim

Gone, Wild Wild West - work in progress

Spring 2021

We are bodies of water. - From Bodies of Water by Astrida Neimanis

Material generally denotes substances that will be further processed, it points to the forces of production at the time. From a critical perspective, the term ‘material’ describes not prime matter but substances that are always subject to change, be it through handling, interaction with their surroundings… It is therefore a political decision to focus on the materials of art: it means to consider the processes of making and their associated power relations, to consider the workers—whether they are in factories, studios or public spaces, whether they are known or anonymous—and their tools and spaces of production. - From Materiality, "Introduction//How to Be Complicit with Materials" by Petra Lange-Berndt

For the First Year Review, I have presented an exploratory installation titled, Gone, Wild Wild West that encapsulated my initial research on the Salton Sea and investigates plastic materials through layered sculptural assemblages. By using multi-channel video projections, I wanted to represent different elements surrounding the sea: the border, the farms, the birds, and different bodies of water. This strategy allowed me to express poetically my first impressions and experiences of the diverse landscapes surrounding the Salton Sea. I am also exploring using the videos as one of the elements of the installation rather than a singular narrative.

Materials

Three-channel videos, sound, eucalyptus pulp, various debris, black plastic sheets, plastic water bottle, and foam

Sound

There are four distinct sounds for this installation: My voice reading a letter in Korean, the artist Oscar Magallanes' dad, Arturo, talking about his experiences working on a ranch in Imperial Valley in Spanish, an avid birder I met at the Sonny Bono bird sanctuary at the Salton Sea, and the ambient sound mixed with bird calls. I intentionally did not translate Spanish and Korean voices into English. I wanted to replicate the existence of multiple voices at a particular time and location. Mixing with the sounds of the birds, I wanted to create an aural experience where I acknowledge the presence of languages that I do not understand. After my conversation with Professor Cho (one of my committee members), I've decided to get the text translated and upload it here when it's ready. It feels essential to learn about Arturo's experience working on the land in Imperial Valley. A huge thanks to Oscar and Arturo for their collaboration and participation in this project.

Acknowledgment

It was challenging to work on this project during the pandemic, and I couldn't have installed it without the help and guidance of generous people around me at home, the Salton Sea, and at UCSD. Thank you all so much. The large black plastic sheets were donated by BNBuilders, who are building the new amphitheater behind VAF. A big thanks to Meredith Wester for the tour of the site.