Immortelle Divine
MOUSSE Review by Mitch Speed
Art-o-Rama with Bibeaukrueger, Marseille, 2023
Yoo’s new installation created for Art-o-rama presents an organized material embodiment of societal structures through the framework of a factory model. The installation mines the methodology behind the concept of “wellness”, the promise of health as a capitalist vehicle, and the limitations of these rigid constructions as unsustainable formats with a core drive to hasten and restrict outcomes. Through the activation of this installation, Yoo suggests a visual oscillation between the state of interdependence and dependence while foreshadowing a collision of personal desire and control in a game of global scarcity. The installation ultimately introduces the outcome of predictability by way of scent, liquid, and fermentation.This site-specific installation shows aspirational prosperity and wellness of two specific cultures, France and Korea, within the scope of Neo-globalization. The soap wax sculptures are formed with traditional Korean herbal medicines suspended along with tubes filled with red wine from local markets and salt water from Mediterranean Sea. The liquid is lively circulated in the space as the viewers are allowed to explore it from within. Three ginseng liquor bottles are filled with sea water, wine, and printed images of The Louvre’s master pieces. Again, the bottles are labelled as L’Oriental, followed up with L’Occitane’s Immortelle Divine cream. The absurdity of this playful arrangement leads to the strategies of multicultural consumerism.
Image Courtesy of Bibeaukrueger