Kaja Clara Joo - The Making of An Alchemist
Emerging Artist Series (Vienna)
Where: University of Applied Arts Vienna, AT
When: June 18 - 30, 2024
Reviewed by: Hilary Tsui
Kaja Joo is a little alchemist in the making. She especially loves to work with dark topics and dull-looking industrial materials, and turn them into something weirdly attractive.
In her art practice, Kaja often experiments with the extremes and contradictions by means of large-scale installations, alternative photography, and fictional stories. Her love for paradoxes and contradictions can be seen in her choice of materials and presentations, typically the use of cold, sturdy industrial materials to portray/ contrast with deep, heart-felt emotions and how she can create beauty out of the most unattractive materials.
Her pursue for the extremes are mostly revealed through her work approach, which include experimenting with lengthy metamorphosis processes of alternative photography, as well as the highly physical act of building the sheer size of her installations with her own bare hands!
Signar Taupe - A Take On The Oil Industry
Her graduation project at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, Signar Taupe, features a typical repertoire of the artist, namely a large mechanical installation, made in cooperation with Christoph Freidhöfer, as the center piece; a set of analogue photographs using alternative processes; a multi-channel video installation; and last but not the least, a companion booklet written by herself that contextualizes the body of work.
Signar Taupe sits in the airy hall of the main university building, in an absolute captivating light. It resembles a broken oil drill, the sturdy frame is connected by layers of very fragile-looking material made of liquid latex, which is meant to wear down under exposure to light and time. All over the drill and on the floor, there are remnants of asphalt, a petroleum-like material used to build roads. The drill is clearly broken into 2 pieces, yet is still turning slowly, as if struggling with its remaining heartbeats. The installation is weirdly poetic to look at.
On the wall, there is a series of unique analogue photographs which were done using real-life digital images of oil drill scans that depict holes that are dug over 50m below the earth. The images resemble X-ray photos that seem to capture the soul of the earth. On top of that a multi-channel video that is made up of professional and amateur recordings of water, gas and oil pipes with a sound compilation made specially to reflect both the atmosphere and the length of a geological cavity. The group of work is rounded up by a companion with an absurd love story that indirectly hints to our capitalist society’s love for this mega power.
The work sheds a critical light on the very problematic oil industry, which has exerted extraordinary economic and political power in the last decades to cover up the environmental devastation they have caused (and will be causing for decades to come) - from environmental impact on water, natural habitats, air quality, and on climate change, to oil spills, leaks and overusing of fossil fuels.
Signar Taupe is another perfect example of Kaja’s quest for the extremes and contradictions. Although she has not made a heavy-handed statement, she has clearly re-informed us of this urgent and mankind-threatening issue, with a captivating and elaborate body of work. (HT)
Kaja Clara Joo (*1991, AT)
Kaja was born in Vienna, she studied Fine Arts (Photography) and Transdisciplinary Arts at University of Applied Arts Vienna.
Since 2018, Kaja has had numerous solo and group shows at home and abroad, including solo feature at the Sotheby´s Artists Quarterly in Vienna. Kaja has won the international artist residency in the Lee Ungno Museum in Hongseong, South Korea and will undergo the residency there from July to November 2024.
Signar Taupe. 2024
Kinetic installation
engine, steel, natural rubber, silicone oil,
analogue photo emulsion, construction site rubble
In artistic cooperation with Christoph Freidhöfer
Approx. 700 x 200 x 400 cm. Courtesy of the artist
Signar Taupe. 2024. Exhibition View. Courtesy of the artist
Signar Taupe. 2024. Exhibition View. Courtesy of the artist
Signar Taupe. 2024. Exhibition View. Courtesy of the artist
Signar Taupe. 2024. Exhibition View. Courtesy of the artist
Touched by Neither (Light nor Sight). 2024
Alternative photography. Analogue photo emulsion and gelatin on hand-sanded. Copper and aluminum in steel frames. 160 x 50 cm. Courtesy of the artist
Excavation Studies (570 Feet). 2024
6 Channel - Video Installation. Steel rods, Plumbing clamps, balcony post supports, Monitors, 10-min. Unique.
Courtesy of the artist
