Sections

Neighborhoods

Features

Follow Us

NHI Newsletter

Some Favorite Sites

Government/ Community Links

Movie Night

by Linda Cuckovich | Apr 16, 2007 9:45 am

Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Arts

jeuno%20kim.jpgKorean artist Jeuno JE Kim (pictured at center) showed her video “Janitor” on Saturday night at a reception in a tiny detached garage on Lyon Street in Wooster Square. Despite the cold, much of New Haven’s arts community turned out to see the poetic narrative piece that Kim shot earlier this year in Korea.

The garage is home to Grand Projects, a gallery operated by local sculptor Johanna Bresnick since 2003. According to Kim, who lives and teaches in Malmo, Sweden, this humble space is appealing in part because of Bresnick’s flexibility: “When other artists run spaces, they don’t say, ‘It’s really great, but could you just make it pink?’” Instead, Grand Projects allowed Kim to craft her show without any limitations.

Bresnick agreed that it’s a priority for her to give artists a free hand. “It’s important that artists feel they have total control. When I work with artists, I trust their instincts.” She admitted that she hadn’t even seen “Janitor” until the opening Saturday night. Since she started Grand Projects, Bresnick has hosted 24 local and international artists for site-specific shows.

The video combines a story, told from the perspective of a Korean janitor and printed across the center of a series of images taken in Seoul. Divided in three movements, the piece meanders from straightforward characterization, “I wear a nice uniform,” to casual conversation, “I know what’s what and who’s who and how the hows are being planned,” to figurative fragments. “Post-war times brought forth a cocktail equality/shaken not stirred.”

The still images link with the narrative, but in no obviously literal fashion. Some depict the protagonist’s workplace, Korea’s National History Museum. Most of the shots are focused on architecture: construction sites, walls, floors, and staircases, generally shot from below or above. Like the narrative, the tone of many of the images is at once detached and intimate, suggesting the janitor’s point-of-view.

“Janitor” is also wry and surprising at key moments; the narrator turns out, defying expectations, to be a woman, turning the cliché on its head: “A woman needs a space of her own/This belief allowed me to go out for a carton of milk and never come back.”

Flashes of humor also appear in the images. One drab office building boasts a sign reading “Treasure Castle Business Club” for no apparent reason.

Late in the piece, “Janitor” becomes increasingly fragmentary and whimsical. The janitor catalogues the spaces she maintains and observes: “Office of Paranoia/Office of Books for the Illiterate/Office of Marmish Ladies in Blue Pantsuits.” Kim avoids much of the heaviness that often characterizes video art, instead combining poetry with a humorous edge.

In contrast to many experimental videos, the piece conveys a strong sense of character. Unlike many fiction or documentary shorts, it offers no clear linear narrative. “Janitor” ultimately stands on the border between a number of genres and styles.

The Grand Projects space is open Sundays from 1-5 pm and by appointment. “Janitor” will show at Grand Projects until May 6.

Share this story with others.

Share |

Post a Comment

Comments

There were no comments

get ANDI

Events Calendar

loading…

SeeClickFix »

no street sign, broken barrier & fence
May 25, 2012 10:51 am
Address: Front And Lombard Streets New Haven, CT 06513, USA
Rating: 1

There is a very dangerous situation that needs to be fixed at the...

more »
Utility Pole #3206
May 25, 2012 11:20 am
Address: Lock & Ashmun St. New Haven, CT 06519, USA
Rating: 3

Utility pole on corner of Lock St. and Ashmun St. has dangling wires wrapped loosely...

more »

Flyerboard

Sponsors

N.H.I. Site Design & Development

smartpill design