Sojung Jun on Syncope, Speed, and Plasticity in Asian Modernity
In the recent Afterall 58, artist Sojung Jun discusses her video work, Syncope (2023), which is in the running for the 2023 Korea Artist Prize at Seoul's National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. This piece explores audio experiences linked to train derailments, plant movements, and shifts in data. Jun examines social structures like trains and ships within geopolitical frameworks, reflecting on how tradition and modernity interact through sound and speed. Her previous works, Eclipse I and II (2020), feature music from a North Korean gayageum, highlighting hybrid influences. During her time at Villa Vassilieff in Paris, she explored synaesthesia and the narratives of Korean adoptees, drawing inspiration from Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dictée (1982). Future projects will address the Silk Road and the forced migrations of Koreans via the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Key facts
- Sojung Jun was shortlisted for the 2023 Korea Artist Prize at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul.
- Syncope (2023) is a single-channel video, 32 minutes 10 seconds.
- The work traces journeys of people following sound, intersecting train derailments, plant movements, gamelan time, and data transformation.
- Jun discusses plasticity as a physical property applied to Asia's experiences of imperialism, modernization, colonization, and capitalism.
- Eclipse I and Eclipse II (2020) feature music for a North Korean gayageum with twenty-one strings, redesigned under Soviet influence.
- At Villa Vassilieff in Paris, Jun researched synaesthesia and Korean adoptees, engaging with Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dictée.
- Jun's installation includes physical and digital objects, with AR plants viewable via smartphone.
- Future projects explore the Silk Road and forced relocations of Koreans to Central Asia via the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Entities
Artists
- Sojung Jun
- Nav Haq
- Adeena Mey
- Park Soon-a
- Kim Hyesoon
- Kim Choyeop
- Yuk Hui
- Yun Isang
- Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
- Yu Gwan-sun
- Joan of Arc
- Saint Teresa
- Yi Sang
- Celia
Institutions
- Afterall
- National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
- Barakat Contemporary
- Leeum Museum of Art
- Villa Vassilieff
Locations
- Seoul
- South Korea
- Paris
- France
- North Korea
- Asia
- Europe
- Eurasia
- Silk Road
- Central Asia
- Manchuria
Sources
- Afterall —