The Silence and Eloquence of Objects

Titled The Silence and Eloquence of Objects (2017), Young-Jun Tak’s installation for the Istanbul Biennial reflects on the imbrication of domestic setting with personal identity, and situations of mobility and itinerancy. The work takes the form of a full-scale replica of Tak’s former Seoul apartment, installed upside-down on the ceiling of Istanbul Modern. Measuring 4 x 6 metres, the inverted apartment hangs oppressively over the viewer, giving a sense of being cast out of space.

In South Korea, it is common for young people to inhabit these small, studio flats (known as ‘one-room’), where the kitchen, bedroom and living room are all confined within one space. Young people move in and out of such apartments with a high rate of turnover, due to soaring rents. This situation is widespread in cities around the world, reflecting the gentrification of previously affordable districts and the targeting of newly built homes at the affluent.
In this site of lodging, self-expression, masturbation, lone dwelling and private contemplation, we see a bed, a desk, some bookshelves, a table and other objects: the possessions that formed the layout of the small space the artist called home. These inexpensive furnishings, chosen by Tak for their ease of portability, have either been cast or coated with a thick white acrylic paste and then painted white.

As well as being a reflection on the current realities of of itinerant living, the work shows the way in which we imbue and project our private, personal histories onto the objects that we own and the spaces in which we live. This work is placed next to the library in Istanbul Modern, and as such addresses larger narratives surrounding the movements of people around the world. It also points to recent changes in the way we conceive of domestic spaces in relation to precariousness, forced mobility and lack of permanence. Not just the apartment, it seems, but the whole world is upside-down.