Seongeun Lee - Stove by a Whale, London, 2024

Stove by a Whale: Momentarily onto neither Land nor Sea

18. 04. — 05. 05. 2024
Artists | Steven He &Seongeun Lee
Curator | Jia Yue He
Graphic Design | Agnete Morell

Organized by Staffordshire St Gallery
Production budget | Sponsored by the Eaton fund

Events

The Arrival: What’s in my Suitcase? | workshop | Saturday 20 April, 2-4 pm (Workshop facilitator: Bettina Fung)

A collaborative workshop, where participants will imagine the arrival of their ancestors. We will bring and transform objects into something new.

Constructing Furure Mammals | workshop | Saturday 27th April, 11am-1pm

A creative writing workshop exploring immigrant identity, hosted by the artists and curators. We will imagine new mammals and make a mural scroll.

Offsite Workshop: Southwark Archives | offsite workshop | Wednesday 1 May, 3-5 pm

A tour of the collection at Southwark Archives, and fiction writing and reflection workshop guided by the artists.

Collective Learning and Community Drumming | workshop | Saturday 4 May, 2-3 pm

Make music and connect with locals in a drumming circle held amidst the exhibition.

<Stove by a Whale> is a collaborative project by Korean artist Seongeun Lee and Chinese-born British artist Steven He. The story within our work takes place after an implied presence of a whale attack, which has caused the boat to be shipwrecked on a beach. The fact that the beach is in between land and sea was really important for us. Land symbolises permanence, boundaries, and a foundation for communities, evoking feelings of security and identity but also differentiation. Modern cities, as products of capitalist-driven uniformity, induce feelings of alienation among inhabitants, while the ocean, representing adaptability, emphasises the transient nature of existence and the duality of exploration and rootlessness. So, for us, the beach is a symbol of metamorphosis, introspection, and confrontation.

"We're interested in areas where tides change, and the ground isn't firm.

While architecture grounded in rational thinking is built on solid land, this shifting terrain challenges traditional paradigms. In this horizontal space without hierarchy, we explore new possibilities. By showing this liminal space, we invite the audience to envision a place like a border crossing between two worlds."

<Stove by a Whale>은 한국인 작가 이성은과 중국계 영국인 Steven He의 협업 프로젝트이다. 설치는 고래와 배가 충돌한 난파 현장을 암시한다. 프로젝트는 바다와 육지 사이에 있는 해변을 조성하는 것을 목표로 한다. 육지는 작가들에게 영구성, 경계, 그리고 공동체의 기초를 상징하며 안정성과 정체성을 떠올리게 하지만 동시에 차별을 낳는 공간을 의미하기도 한다. 육지는 자본의 논리로 획일화 되어가고 있으며 그 결과, 현대 도시는 도시인들을 소외시킨다. 반면, 유동성을 상징하는 바다는 존재의 가변성, 탐험과 무 교차성의 이중성을 강조한다. 그래서 작가들에게 해변은 변형, 내성적인 탐 구, 그리고 직면을 상징하는 곳이다.

“본 전시는 해변 즉, 조수가 변하고 땅이 단단하지 않은 지대를 조성하는 것을 목표로 한다.

합리적 사고에 기반을 둔 남성적 건축은 견고한 땅을 전제로 한다. 수직적 건축이 불 가능한 유동적 지형은 전통적인 패러다임에 도전한다. 위계가 없는 수평적 공간에서 우리는 새로운 가능성을 탐구한다.”