Lost & Found: Embodied Archive

 

Embodied Archive unpacks how artists radically re-envision the body as a reservoir of memory. This reservoir retains convergences of the past and present while offering the possibility of new encounters.

 

The participating artists demonstrate how memory is ingrained in history by incorporating physical encounters into their artworks. This is accomplished through a variety of bodily manifestations that use the body as a historical informant and a means of personalising social and cultural experiences. In making space for what lies in the body, these works choreograph our encounters with them, activating us as viewers.

 

Refusing to remain static, Embodied Archive embraces the process of becoming by making space for the live nature of performative works. Many of the artists whose works are on display in this gallery have conceptualised performances, workshops and talks. The exhibition will unfurl slowly over the month as works are activated in turn, creating an intentional space for movement, rhythm and reflection.

 

Embodied Archive forms the second pillar of Lost & Found, a multi-year curatorial study on the interplay between artistic practices, memory and the notion of the archive. When one thinks of an archive, what often intuitively comes to mind is a physical site with material objects, records and documents. This project seeks to expand on that understanding by inviting viewers to consider the body as an archive.

 

Banner image: Lee Kang Seung, Skin, 2024. Image courtesy of the artist and Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles; Gallery Hyundai, Seoul; Alexander Gray Associates, New York.