Optical illusions at Atelier Hermes

Your eyes will go spinning the moment you set foot in the Atelier Hermes in Sinsa-dong.

Artist Jim Lambie has covered the 326.81 square-meter floor with multi-colored neon vinyl tape for his first solo exhibition in Korea, titled "Nervous Track."

"It is like putting a new skin on the floor, almost like a tattoo. It also reminds of the lines of an LP," the Scottish artist told The Korea Herald last week.



The regular and irregular patterns of Lambie`s signature floor installations called "Zobop" cause an optical illusion which gives an eccentric ambiance to the space. The patterns are changeable according to the given exhibition space.

So far Lambie has covered numerous floors, starting from the Transmission Gallery in Glasgow in 1999 where he held his first solo show.

The Glasgow School of Art graduate started to gain international attention since then. He was invited to various Biennales and was short-listed for Turner Prize in 2005.

Besides "Zobop," Lambie tries to show diverse aspects of his art in Seoul by displaying a dozen of his older and newer works together. Most of the works are somehow related to music, like "Sonic Reducer," for which he stuck old records into a cement block.

It is understandable given Lambie`s musical talent. The 45-year-old artist is also a DJ and plays in a band. He was the DJ for the opening party of the current exhibition.

But Lambie said that his artworks do not simply describe music. He is rather inspired from the trivial things and places in everyday life, like junk shops.

"Recently, I was focused on how to make a painting without actually having to use the brushes. While I was looking around some junkshops, I found some old oil paintings I could use," said Lambie.

He tore off the flower figures from the old paintings and collaged them over black and white posters of pop stars like John Lennon, Bob Dylan and Kate Bush. Only the celebrities` eyes and noses peek out through the flowers.

The idea of the work was also derived from his simple everyday experiences.

"One day, I saw a man walking with a big bouquet almost covering his face. Another day, I realized how people at the restaurants talk to each other with their faces almost hidden behind big flower centerpieces. I thought it would be an interesting subject," Lambie said.

The exhibition also showcases Lambie`s first film work, also titled "Nervous Track." It shows the inside of a truck carrying a bottle as the artist drives the truck around Glasgow.

The way the bottle bounces around describes the artist`s wandering state of mind.

"It is something like a self-portrait. In the bottle, I put a little bit of my urine, saliva and tears," he said.

The exhibition "Nervous Track" runs through Aug. 9 at Atelier Hermes in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul. It is located on the third floor of Maison Hermes Dosan Park. It is closed Wednesdays. For more information, call (02) 544-7722.

By Park Min-young



(claire@heraldm.com)