Despite technical globalization, Korean and New York art cultures remain alien. Close communication between these distanced artists is almost non-existent. By creating a link between both cultures through our chosen artists I hope to extend cultural communities to remote regions of the globe.

In Crossing Parallels, seven artists are selected from Seoul and seven artists are selected from New York City to conceive, collaborate and fabricate completely new works for each of two exhibits. The fourteen artists are cross grouped by nationality in pairs as teams. They will be collaborating on new works for two exhibitions in locales where they  are all physically present for the openings. Prior to meeting and fabrication,

the artists communicate weekly by telephone, fax and email from their studios. A clean exchange of ideas both of personal and specialized nature is a goal. By flying seven artists from New York City to SSamzie Space in Seoul and then seven artists from Seoul to Lance Fung Gallery in New York City, physical meetings and production cycles are experienced against crossed contexts. The clash of cultures leaves these teams with uneven values across global space. The first exhibit of Crossing Parallels opens in Seoul and the second exhibit opens in New York City. Our result is evaluated when the second term of the project finalizes at the New York City opening. One must have access to both shows to read Crossing Parallels.

My curatorial role is to intensify a micro-culture where each of the participating artists experiences new challenges, common goals naturally emerge as production outstrips cultural habits and unites our participants through practice. The special paradigm of foreigner/native adds a dimension that cuts to the core of issues in global expansion. I hope to expose the protocols of both roles through Crossing Parallels. Perhaps the project will re-organize each artist’s culturally codified sense of self. This underlying paradigm is primary to Crossing Parallels as the goal of repositioning an appreciation of life and art is a premise of the entire undertaking. The natural bonding that can occur when common targets are scoped within non-homogenous collaborations is a background goal on a curatorial level as well.

With all this said as curator, I now take the risk that an exhibition must emerge in the end. However, an equally challenging paradigm shift is posed for myself – my own cultural growth being thereby fed – the project/result set is rejected in favor of an indeterminate outcome. This allows a very different model to what standard curatorial protocol usually yields as product.  A value-space is my location within the exhibition. The cliche evaluation of “good” product, that hangs from the lips of culturally hypnotized art participants must be minimized through the solidarity of parallelism in curatorial practice. Curating this particular value-space, I parallel the artist’s hightened awareness and knowledge of site-specificity, unleashing dynamic, powerful, and intelligent artists through a linked approach. Inevitably, curator, artist, and viewer all experience something unexpected and wonderful in Crossing Parallels.

Guest Curator Lance Fung(Lance fung gallery director)