Lee Bul has been obsessed with shiny objects and mirrors since 2012. Taking inspiration from infrequent dreams and architecture; the artist builds seemingly infinite spaces within museums and galleries. She creates spaces where the ceiling becomes the wall (and vice versa). If you’re in need of a refueling of your imagination and residing in Austria, you can experience her work in the crystal embedded “Chamber of Wonder” inside of Swarovski Crystal Worlds. It could be said that the themes of reflections and shimmering all began when Lee fabricated a labyrinth full of mirrors with her piece “Via Negativa (2012).” In an interview with the Birmingham Post she deemed it a room that: “makes the viewer feel uncomfortable and self-conscious”. Starting on August 26th, PKM Gallery will also provide another space filled with mirrors and crystals that are all lit-up. It comes with the same amount of discomfort, but admission to it is free.
Born into a period of military dictatorship and having experienced the stages that Korea underwent to mature into the democratic nation that it is today, Lee is infamous for bringing experiential sceneries of Utopia into gallery spaces. Although best known for site-specific installations, the young artist hung herself upside down nude in 1989 to talk about abortion, and in Japan, she wore a body suit with an extra arm sprouting from her leg as she marched down the streets. As a side note for those of you who don’t know how to indulge in a healthy dose of narcissism in a room full of mirrors, we advise you to get into character, and try to adopt Lee’s young and fearless spirit. Maybe you’ll finally learn to love what you see looking back at you in the mirror.