The installation view of the exhbition, Courtesy of Gallery Hyundai
Ayoung Kim’s new solo exhibition Plot, Blop, Plop is now on view at Atelier Hermès in Seoul, running from March 21 to June 1, 2025. The exhibition marks the premiere of Kim’s latest large-scale video installation Al-Mather Plot 1991 (2025), a work that intricately interweaves oil, geopolitics, war, and memory through a hybrid of narrative, sound, light, and speculative digital technologies.
The centerpiece of the exhibition, Al-Mather Plot 1991, is a 28-minute single-channel video accompanied by a dynamic lighting installation. It revisits petroleum—a recurring motif in Kim’s earlier trilogy Zepheth, Whale Oil from the Hanging Gardens to You, Shell (2014–2015)—as a force that powered modernism, instigated global conflicts, and catalyzed transformations in geology and climate. Kim returns to this theme with heightened urgency and precision in her new work, embedding it in a layered narrative grounded in a real architectural site.
Set in the Al-Mather Housing Complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the work reconstructs the entangled histories of South Korean construction companies in the Middle East during the 1970s–80s oil boom, the Gulf War, and the global energy crisis. The site is personal to Kim; it was a project undertaken by the company where her father worked as an engineer. By filming on-site and engaging with current residents, she renders the location as a palimpsest—a convergence of private memory and geopolitical history.
The installation view of the exhbition, Courtesy of Gallery Hyundai
The exhibition’s title, Plot, Blop, Plop, mimics the playful sounds of bubbling liquid, yet conceptually references the varied meanings of “plot”—as a narrative structure, spatial design, and even a conspiracy. Kim uses these layered definitions to build an immersive environment, where the floorplan of the housing complex is fragmented on the ground, while war symbols dangle ominously from the ceiling, recalling both urban planning and aerial warfare.
Flashes of light and sonic excerpts from the Zepheth series operate as narrative ruptures, transporting viewers between the present and 1991. These transitions blur the boundaries between documentary and fiction, memory and speculation. The installation becomes a cognitive map where sound, space, and movement combine into a fluid scenography.
Technologically, the work is notable for its sophisticated integration of transmedia tools. Kim employs generative AI (V2V), LiDAR scanning, 3D Gaussian splatting, 2D archival animation, and game engine-based CGI, layering these mediums to build a futuristic language of visual storytelling. These elements expand the boundaries of narrative cinema, proposing new ways of representing history through speculative fiction.
The installation view of the exhbition, Courtesy of Gallery Hyundai
This exhibition coincides with a period of significant international recognition for Kim. Her ongoing solo show Many Worlds Over at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin runs through July 20, and she has recently become the first Korean recipient of the 2025 LG Guggenheim Award. In November, Kim will debut her first major solo exhibition in the United States at MoMA PS1 in New York, featuring a curated selection of key works. A newly commissioned facade installation will also launch in October at M+ in Hong Kong and the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
Ayoung Kim’s Plot, Blop, Plop exemplifies her continued commitment to geopolitical inquiry, spatial storytelling, and experimental media. It reaffirms her position at the forefront of contemporary Korean art, navigating between memory and material, fiction and reality.
Sayart / Maria Kim, sayart2022@gmail.com
The installation view of the exhbition, Courtesy of Gallery Hyundai
Ayoung Kim’s new solo exhibition Plot, Blop, Plop is now on view at Atelier Hermès in Seoul, running from March 21 to June 1, 2025. The exhibition marks the premiere of Kim’s latest large-scale video installation Al-Mather Plot 1991 (2025), a work that intricately interweaves oil, geopolitics, war, and memory through a hybrid of narrative, sound, light, and speculative digital technologies.
The centerpiece of the exhibition, Al-Mather Plot 1991, is a 28-minute single-channel video accompanied by a dynamic lighting installation. It revisits petroleum—a recurring motif in Kim’s earlier trilogy Zepheth, Whale Oil from the Hanging Gardens to You, Shell (2014–2015)—as a force that powered modernism, instigated global conflicts, and catalyzed transformations in geology and climate. Kim returns to this theme with heightened urgency and precision in her new work, embedding it in a layered narrative grounded in a real architectural site.
Set in the Al-Mather Housing Complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the work reconstructs the entangled histories of South Korean construction companies in the Middle East during the 1970s–80s oil boom, the Gulf War, and the global energy crisis. The site is personal to Kim; it was a project undertaken by the company where her father worked as an engineer. By filming on-site and engaging with current residents, she renders the location as a palimpsest—a convergence of private memory and geopolitical history.
The installation view of the exhbition, Courtesy of Gallery Hyundai
The exhibition’s title, Plot, Blop, Plop, mimics the playful sounds of bubbling liquid, yet conceptually references the varied meanings of “plot”—as a narrative structure, spatial design, and even a conspiracy. Kim uses these layered definitions to build an immersive environment, where the floorplan of the housing complex is fragmented on the ground, while war symbols dangle ominously from the ceiling, recalling both urban planning and aerial warfare.
Flashes of light and sonic excerpts from the Zepheth series operate as narrative ruptures, transporting viewers between the present and 1991. These transitions blur the boundaries between documentary and fiction, memory and speculation. The installation becomes a cognitive map where sound, space, and movement combine into a fluid scenography.
Technologically, the work is notable for its sophisticated integration of transmedia tools. Kim employs generative AI (V2V), LiDAR scanning, 3D Gaussian splatting, 2D archival animation, and game engine-based CGI, layering these mediums to build a futuristic language of visual storytelling. These elements expand the boundaries of narrative cinema, proposing new ways of representing history through speculative fiction.
The installation view of the exhbition, Courtesy of Gallery Hyundai
This exhibition coincides with a period of significant international recognition for Kim. Her ongoing solo show Many Worlds Over at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin runs through July 20, and she has recently become the first Korean recipient of the 2025 LG Guggenheim Award. In November, Kim will debut her first major solo exhibition in the United States at MoMA PS1 in New York, featuring a curated selection of key works. A newly commissioned facade installation will also launch in October at M+ in Hong Kong and the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
Ayoung Kim’s Plot, Blop, Plop exemplifies her continued commitment to geopolitical inquiry, spatial storytelling, and experimental media. It reaffirms her position at the forefront of contemporary Korean art, navigating between memory and material, fiction and reality.
