From the Rotunda to the display cases, how does the cylindrical and circular architecture of the museum inspire you?

When I saw this majestic space with the dome and the beauty of the fresco, I was so stunned and also inspired by this space. I immediately wanted to respond to this rotunda by placing the mirror that, in a way, expands the other half of the dome in the virtual space. 

What sensations do you want the visitor to experience when they approach your immense mirror installed in the heart of the Bourse de Commerce?

As I also consider the mirror like another tableau that defines the self and the other, and also reality and virtuality, I would invite the audiences to step on it, to be aware of their bodily presence, and also think of the other side of themselves in relationship to the whole rotunda space. 

Your works invite meditation. What place do you give to spirituality in your work?

I think spirituality comes along in the passageway of our lives when we pursue the truth of life and art. The way I gaze the world, also the way I present the world to the viewers, somehow is invited also in that path.

A Needle Woman is a video self-portrait through four cities. Why did you choose these megacities?

When I was doing that Needle Woman performance, in the beginning, I tried to do walking performance, but I couldn't find the right moment to film, so when I arrived to the Shibuya area, I was so overwhelmed by the crowd and humanity around me, I had to stop there and just planted my body in stillness. And I thought, “this is the performance I would do”. 

When I was in the process of standing still, I felt immense compassion towards humanity, and my mind was full of love at the same time and in total peace. So at the end of the performance, I could see the white light beyond the waves of humanity. That was such a special experience for me. After that, I decided to meet everybody in the world, and I wanted to continue this performance in eight different metropolises. 

How did you work with the idea for the window displays? How can we understand the notion of "bottari" ?

I consider the rotunda space as a main body of a person, in a way. And also the pieces installed in the vitrines all around is, in a way, a constellation, but also extended human arms and fingers, in a way. Bottari is the least belongings a human carries. When we move or exile, migration – also we find it often in war zones. So, it is a very critical object also related to a social and political component. And bottari has also a loaded memory and history in it. But at the same time, it has a temporal component as past, present, and future.

As I've been working on Bottari Bondol, a project which also wraps the presence of the humanity in it. But recently, I've been also working on bottari “moonjars”, which is also wrapping the void in it with the soil. I felt that this is in a way another bottari with architecture, and I wanted to complete this almost sphere kind of space, expanding the half of the virtual space with a mirror. 

Your work focuses on both movement and the act of non-doing. Do you find a similarity between these two a priori opposed concepts?

I've been thinking and looking at the world in its duality, and I also always try to reveal the other side of the world. I also continue my practice as a painter, but sewing, connecting two separate parts together, is in a way healing, but to be oneness. At the same time, this extended into my perception on the world, but also life and death. It has been always a co-existing element in my work. Although I've been pursuing non-doing and non-making, there's always the other side of my non-making, which is made, either by myself or the others. While I was standing in the street in stillness or doing nothing, but all other elements around my body were doing constantly. So, the reality of doing and not doing is always coexistent. 

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La carte blanche de Kimsooja « To Breathe — Constellation » est présentée jusqu'au 2 septembre 2024 à la Bourse de Commerce.