AEROPLASTICS | ju young kim

Ju Young Kim's (*1991 in Seoul, KR) first presentation at max goelitz in Berlin addresses transitional states and transit zones by transforming industrial transport modules from airplanes into symbolically encoded works. For her expansive installation, Kim expands her diploma project AEROPLASTICS with newly created works and places them in a new exhibition context. 

In AEROPLASTICS Ju Young Kim merges robust high-tech aircraft components with Art Nouveau elements made of glass, ceramics and metal, creating novel, symbolically recoded objects. Beyond the diversity of the materials used, the works are characterized by a precise understanding of formal language, an interplay of different colors and the integration of surreal details.

The objects of the series AEROPLASTICS raise questions about the relativity of time and space in the context of transnational and transcontinental travel. As a means of transportation, the airplane functions as a link or interface between time zones and geographical borders. On its journey from one place to another, it crosses land and sea, leaving behind political, economic and cultural systems. The airplane thus becomes the embodiment of constant moments of transition and undefinable intermediate spaces – ambivalent spheres of nowhere and everywhere.

For humans, this experience accumulates in a feeling of parallel existence and instability, forcing them to explore their own concepts of identity, belonging and home. Just as the material composition of an aircraft is designed to withstand extreme environmental influences such as heat, cold, wind and rain, travellers must also be able to cope with all the changes, challenges and adversities that they encounter during their journey and at their respective destinations.

Excerpt from Alexandra Baringer's text on the diploma exhibition. Ju Young Kim's diploma was awarded the Debutant Grant at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich in 2024. The presentation AEROPLASTICS will be accompanied by an exhibition text by curator Linda Franken (KW Berlin).

Opening | Berlin

Thursday 27 June

6 – 9 pm

→ Exhibition text Linda Franken