The Ways of Folding Space & Flying

The artist duo MOON Kyungwon and JEON Joonho have worked together since 2009, building a critically-acclaimed multimedia body of work, including the ongoing series News from Nowhere, which was first shown at documenta 13 in 2012 as a platform to contemplate the social function and role of art. For the duo’s Venice Biennale commission, curated by Sook-Kyung Lee, they presented the multi-channel film installation The Ways of Folding Space & Flying, which documents an archaeological exploration into human civilization that weaves together past and future while simultaneously examining the history and structure of the Venice Biennale.

The Ways of Folding Space & Flying takes place in the distant future, long after Venice has submerged below the sea. The only remaining vestige of the Giardini is the Korean Pavilion, the last national pavilion constructed within the garden, sitting at its highest point—which has become the site of an archaeological investigation into past civilizations.\The title of the project is rooted in the Korean words chukjibeop and bihaengsul, both of which are Taoist in origin and reflect the human desire to use mental capacities in order to surpass physical limits and barriers. Chukjibeop may be understood as similar to supernatural speed or teleportation—a magical force that shrinks, or folds, space. Bihaengsul is also a superpower, one that allows people to levitate or fly across time and space. MOON & JEON liken chukjibeop and bihaengsul to the desire to make art: all are creative manifestations intended to move past pre-existing realities.

MOON & JEON have long been interested in how art functions and the role it plays in culture, politics, and life at large. The Ways of Folding Space & Flying is a continuation of their investigation into these questions and a consideration of a future where today’s ideas of art are no longer relevant.

MOON Kyungwon & JEON Joonho live and work in Seoul. Their collaborative works have been presented at numerous international exhibitions, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (2021); Tate Liverpool (2018); Migros Museum of Contemporary Art, Zürich (2015); the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2013); and documenta 13, Kassel (2012).