Posthuman Ensemble

Hwang Moonjung

1990/Republic of Korea

〈Non-human Zone〉, 2021.

Installation, Mixed Media, Dimensions Variable

Hwang Moonjung’s {A City of Non Human} reveals numerous “nonhuman” beings in urban areas through a board game. In the past, the artist focused on the plants and animals seen in the city outskirts. Since moving into the city in 2016, Hwang has concentrated on the city and nonhuman themes. In particular, Hwang’s participation in a group exhibition in apartment complexes has led her to observe the apartment buildings and life-forms that exist within them. She finds that, despite the efforts of humanmade city systems to eliminate nonhuman beings such as waste, cockroaches, mosquitoes, and other insects, rats, weeds, and birds that make their home in the city, these beings
repeatedly return to face humans because of their long lives and reproductive capabilities. The audience sees a scaled-down city model on the game table and is asked to “make your
city clean” by eliminating nonhumans. In the end, however, they find that these nonhumans emerge from the underground despite their efforts and recognize that humanity has no choice but to coexist with them.