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DTSTART:20100219T100000
DTEND:20100516T060000
DTSTAMP:20100906T041733
CREATED:20090212T100340
LAST-MODIFIED:20100212T100714
UID:2755@http://nashvillearts.com
SUMMARY:U-Ram Choe: New Urban Species
DESCRIPTION:U-Ram Choe  New Urban Species  February 19–May 16, 2010                    Korean  artist U-Ram Choe’s kinetic sculptures are made of delicately curved  sections of wrought metal, joined together in movable parts that are  driven by motors to expand, contract, or otherwise suggest the autonomic  motions of such primitive life forms as plants and single-celled  aquatic creatures. The intricate workmanship and graceful movements of  these mechanical sculptures offer viewers an unparalleled visual  delight. At the same time, they have profound philosophical  implications, inviting consideration of the subject of life’s origins,  evolution, and future. Evoking new developments in genetic engineering,  prosthetic technologies, and robotics, these graceful and disturbing  works propose the existence of species that, while constructed of  inorganic materials and powered by light and electricity, mimic the  behavior and appetites of living beings.    Appropriately alluding to the methodologies of biologists or botanists  from the Age of Discovery, Choe uses a Latin nomenclature in titling his  creatures, and provides detailed pseudo-scientific descriptions of  their habitats and behaviors. This allusion to a system of taxonomy that  reached its height in the nineteenth century aligns with the works’  evocations of early science fiction—Jules Verne’s fishlike Nautilus  submarine, for example. The charm of yesterday’s seemingly organic  automata gives way to a chill accompanying the uncanny recognition that  today, botanical or animal hybrids are under development by scientists  who are less concerned with the unintended consequences of manipulating  nature than with expanding the boundaries of life.    About the artist:  Born in 1970, U-Ram Choe lives in Seoul, Korea. He has had solo  exhibitions at The Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas, the Mori Art  Museum in Tokyo, Japan, and bitforms Gallery in New York. His work also  been exhibited at the Shanghai Biennale, Seoul Museum of Art, Samsung  Museum, Sungkok Art Museum, Busan's Metropolitan Art Museum, Galleria  d'Arte Moderna in Bologna, Seoul Olympic Art Museum, and Seoul Forest  Open Air Sculpture Symposium. Choe’s works are in the Crow Collection,  Sungkok Art Museum, and the Galleria d’Arte Moderna,Bologna, and the  Manchester Art Gallery.    Image: U-Ram Choe. Urbanus  Female Larva, 2006. Scientific name: Anmopista volaticus floris  uram. Etched stainless steel, light-emitting diodes, custom software,  circuits, CPU board, cable, and motors, 20 x 24 x 24 in. Edition of 10.  Courtesy bitforms gallery nyc. Photo by David Plakke
LOCATION:919 Broadway, Nashville, TN, United States, 37203
URL:http://nashvillearts.com/2009/02/12/u-ram-choe-new-urban-species/
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