The Crown of Numbers

Sculpture, performance, film, shadow installation - Welded steel, treated surface and black paint. Exhbitied at Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) and Cheongju Art and Cultural industries Foundation, Korea (2015).

This artwork was a collaboration with a Korean Shaman singer, Su yeon Ham, and part of a wider body of work with Artist Seung youn Lee (The Bite Back Movement). This sculpture and concept was from myself.

Why do Gods need money? This sculpture series, installation and short film explore the relationship between money, hierarchy and God. Sometimes the concept of ‘God’ is almost treated like a shop-keeper who can be bargained with for products and social standing with the exchange of money, goods and services. In this film the steel crown and slippers represent both the winners and losers of the capitalistic numbers-driven system, sometimes appearing as a victorious warrior’s helmet, and sometimes appearing as a cow for the slaughter - the winners and losers of the numbers system. Korean tradition dictates that shamans have their head in the sky with the Gods, their feet on the floor with the humans and a body which performs between both realms, hence the crown, slippers and performance.