Spanish artist Daniel Steegmann Mangrane dreamed of becoming a biologist as a kid, but chose to explore nature in his own way after discovering he was “bad at mathematics and chemistry.”
The 49-year-old artist is currently presenting “Befriending the Mountains,” his first show in South Korea at Atelier Hermes in Seoul. There, Steegmann Mangrane's signature work — the title of which matches that of the exhibition — stands as an embodiment of the artist's philosophy on nature.
The curtain of metallic chains is reminiscent of a tropical rainforest. It invites audiences to move through them, sensing their own bodies and movement as they do.
For some, it may evoke the Korean four-character idiom “to be at one with nature,” as they pass through the space and experience a sense of becoming a part of the work.
An interest in nature drew Steegmann Mangrane to reside in Brazil since the mid-2000s, captivated by the natural environment and artistic climate of Rio de Janeiro and the Amazon region. The artist later said he was deeply influenced by the cosmologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, as revealed in the writings of Brazilian anthropologist Eduardo Viveiros de Castro.
“In very simple terms, in Amerindian Perspectivism, there is the idea that there are no subjects or objects per se. (…) Amerindians don’t separate objects and subjects the way we do.
“For them, everything is people, and if everything is people, the relationships between subject and objects become blurred,” the artist said in the interview with Ahn So-yeon, artistic director of the Atelier Hermes in Seoul, shown in the pamphlet.
Steegmann Mangrane's new work, “Fish Trying to Kissing the Moon” features a video installed beyond a glass window. In it, the moon and a fish meet through slowly rippling water. The video was taken from the moon-reflecting pond at Wolji Pond in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.
“Unlike in China and Japan, Korean gardeners never moved rocks, carved soil or diverted rivers but worked with what already existed,” the artist said, referring to “pungsu.” The idea is similar to Chinese Feng Shui, but in Korea evolved into syncretic, geomantic and philosophical values.
After navigating the maze of the exhibition space — an irregular forest filled with natural elements — viewers finally arrive at an open space. Here, they will find a garden filled with Korean pine trees, rocks, volcanic stones and lightning created with LED filaments.
“If I have to say what I really want with my art, and that may sound naively ambitious but it is true, I want to contribute to a new cultural paradigm, one that allows us to acknowledge that everything is interdependent and everything is entangled,” the artist said.
Fondation d’Entreprise Hermes, run by the French luxury fashion house, has four exhibition spaces around the globe dedicated to contemporary art in Korea, Japan, Belgium and France. The exhibition “Befriending the Mountains” runs through March 8 at Atelier Hermes in Seoul.
yunapark@heraldcorp.com
