▲ Becoming Water Bear, Single channel video, color, sound, 25'55'', 2023 ⓒ Chang-beom HeoA performance artist Chang-beom Heo holds a solo exhibition, 'etc.'.

South Korean performance artist Heo holds a solo exhibition at the mM Art Center located in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. In the exhibition, he presents paintings, performances, and videos based on holding his breath.

The exhibition name 'etc.' is an abbreviation of the Latin word 'Et Cetera', meaning 'and' and cetera means 'something else'. 'etc.' is also used to imply some items when listing the entire list, and the implied objects are usually of low importance. Therefore, the artist wants to focus on the objects and the world that are pushed out of the existing order through the exhibition.
 

▲ The installation view ⓒ Chang-beom Heo, mM Art Center

The artist decided to record the act of holding his breath as a methodology to adapt to the already established world and change and find himself intact. He preaches the process of adapting and finding stability in unfamiliar or strange environments by repeating the act of intentionally stopping breathing, which is essential for life support.

He argues that people's discomfort with the various situations and environments they face out of the blue is due to the feeling of being forced to follow a system they have never agreed to. The artist expresses through his work the human life that is constantly forced to adapt to the already established culture, language, perceptions, and institutions.

▲ Stray Cat, Single channel video, color, sound, 08'25'', 2023 ⓒ Chang-beom HeoHe indicates that even humans living in an order already created through works cannot be easily implied or judged, and are dynamic beings. He examines the emotions and thoughts experienced world by himself, an object belonging to the same age, through holding his breath.

The exhibition will be held until Jan. 21 next year.

Sayart / Nao Yim, yimnao@naver.com