b-cone

b-cone focuses on animals and plants that have found their way into human society. The artist’s work features one of two narratives: records about beings that are alive, but whose deaths are expected; and videos about beings that are dead, but look alive. b-cone had the first solo exhibition at Galerie Ora-Ora, Hong Kong in 2011. In the following years, the artist took part in group exhibitions at the Today Art Museum, Beijing; the Songzhuang Art Gallery, Beijing; the 501 Art Base, Chongqing; and the Daejeon Museum of Art. b-cone currently resides in Gwangju, working on co-projects with Mite-Ugro, Gwangju; Barim, Gwangju; Development Area Aura, Gwangju; Ppongppong Bridge, Gwangju; and Space Heem, Busan.

44x60x24cm

The conventional rules of distance between human beings have lost their function, and the new concepts of distance have ironically uncovered the skeletons hidden behind the flawed, yet operational functions in our society. It is in some ways a rather paradoxical revelation that distancing in social or interpersonal terms have brought us much closer to certain individuals, perhaps in excess. Those who were excluded from having a voice in the society, or those who did not even know that such opportunities existed, now find themselves completely in the blind spot of the social safety net, with death as their only means to reveal their existence to the media, however briefly as it may be. This work examines how certain incidents are exposed to the media. Using the communal playgrounds, which were once the site of the children’s community but now have become closed off due to the pandemic; the 2-meter distance between the individuals; and the following newspaper report, I seek to remind us of the concepts of distance that have emerged in recent memory.
“Seong was arrested on the charges of having locked her stepson A (9), for 3 hours in a travel suitcase with the dimension of 50×71.5x29cm, and then once again for four hours in a smaller suitcase of 44x60x24cm, which resulted in his death.” [Lee, Jae-rim. “’9-year-old child’s travel bag confinement murder,’ a woman in her 40s, stands in court on the 15th,” Yonhap News Agency (July 14, 2020)]