Suyeon Kim SE23032112, 2023

Kim Suyeon's work belongs to a twenty-four part series of works documenting meteorological conditions in a twenty-four hour period. The artist used various tools, among them brushes, pens, and oil sticks, which were moved by the wind to produce indexical marks relating to its speed and direction. These marks were subsequently transferred onto the canvas. The twenty-four works are a record of the wind and the colors of the sky on the Vernal Equinox (March 21), one of two days in the year when the Sun is exactly above the Equator and day and night are of equal length. As part of her data-collection, Kim kept hourly anemographic readings throughout the 24-hour period, on the hour, every hour such as a data and tool-based taxidermy of nature. Previously for the artist, data was an arrangement of impressive scenes and a matter of sequenced record.

Kim Suyeon has been exploring the meteorological realm through her works for some time. Despite centuries of knowledge and technological advancements, the changing weather has remained elusive and ephemeral as the wind. That is, Kim recognized that all around her, wind blows where it wishes and she could hear its sound, but she could not ascertain where it came from or where it was going. She collected the intangible pneuma-object—the Greek word pneuma meaning literally wind, but also breath or spirit—through its transient and momentary representations in the movement of a self-made instrument of visual record-keeping.

The title refers to the day and the hour in which the data was collected, also noticeable in the shifting color of the sky. SE stands for Spring Equinox. This work refers to March 21, 2023 for the hour from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm.