DD2000: Miru Kim's Underground Art

The next talk I'd like to analyse is by Miru Kim, a South Korean photographer who moved to New York during the late 90s. Kim had originally set out to pursue a career as a surgeon, after she had discovered a seemingly dark interest in dissecting animals, discovering what may lurk underneath the surface. This philosophy led Kim into wanting to dissect the city, to see what was lurking underneath, upon which she discovered urban exploration, something I have always wanted to take up (there's rumours that Manchester is FILLED with underground structures).

It wasn't too long after taking a few photographs of abandoned structures such as sewers, subway tunnels, hospitals, factories, etc, that Kim decided the shots needed a sort of life, some sort of animation to them, so she began taking photos of these places including herself in the nude, so as not to be conforming to a cultural ideal. This set would come to be known as Naked City Spleen. The photos Kim takes include herself, very, very small in comparison the the rest of the shot; it's wonderfully subtle. 

Kim then goes on to tell us that her work hasn't kept itself exclusive to just New York, and that she has traveled the world, mainly cities like Berlin, Paris and London, possibly in order to achieve a more ancient, traditional feel to her work, in comparison to the relatively modern underground tunnels of New York. One such set includes the catacombs of Paris, which is littered with bones, some 1300 years old.

Kim has even made the big leap into film, with Blind Door, filmed with 16mm film in black and white, which brings over elements from Naked City Spleen. From what I have seen of it, it is quite interesting, containing extended scenes of Kim, nude, exploring abandoned buildings. It is as arthouse as it gets.