Lee Bul

Willing To Be Vulnerable – Metalized Balloon Ver. AR22 (2022) | Augmented Reality

Among the foremost contemporary Korean artists of her generation, Lee Bul creates works that reflect her philosophical exploration of 20th century cultural history. Exploring issues ranging from societal gender roles and the perceived failure of progressivist ideals to the relationship between humans and technology, she produces genre-crossing works rooted in critical theory, art history and themes from speculative fiction.

Through her mesmerising installations, she investigates how visionary narratives and notions of progress affect the way our world is structured both in the present and the future.

Willing To Be Vulnerable – Metalized Balloon, based on historical contexts, alludes to the notorious Hindenburg airship, which was Germany’s symbol of progress in the early 1930s until it was destroyed in a disastrous accident. Lee delves into the idea of utopian modernism, while illuminating the inescapable darker aspects of an increasingly advanced technological culture.