We are pleased to announce a new co-commission for the collection with UK based artist Seo Hye Lee, for the Vital Capacities online residency programme from 1st June 2021.
Vital Capacities aims to provide an accessible space for artists and audiences who may be limited by resources or physical barriers from participating. The platform supports artists to develop new work, share skills, make new contacts, and reach audiences in the UK and internationally. Working with organisation around the country, especially those with a focus on disability arts, to nominate artists for the programme, three artists have been selected for the June edition of the programme.
Seo Hye Lee, Laura Lulika and Linda Stupart will be in residence throughout June, sharing new work and research in an online ‘studio’ and exhibition space. The artists are supported by University of Salford Art Collection, Film London Artists’ Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) and Phoenix, respectively.
Seo Hye Lee is a Somerset-based South Korean artist who uses the mediums of sound, illustration, and installation to experiment with new forms of narrative, creating playful pieces that challenge the idea of listening. Drawing inspiration from her hearing loss experience, Seo Hye aims to explore the boundaries between hearing and listening; regardless of your hearing skill, one can always listen in a variety of ways. Recent presentations of her work include: Artist Self-Publishers’ Fair (2020) Grundy Art Gallery (2020), School of Art Institute Chicago (2019), London College of Communication (2019), Jip + Olympia (2020), Tate Exchange (2019) and Tanzhaus NRW (2019).Seo Hye graduated from MA Visual Communication at The Royal College of Art in 2017.
“I like to explore the nature of sound as a deaf individual in different ways. As someone who has frequently worked with audio-visual installation, I would like to push my practice toward creating works within the video installation and moving image format. Due to my deafness, I grew up relying on subtitles in film and media. I have since become interested in subtitles as a nuanced form of communication. This residency will provide a fantastic opportunity for me to explore this in greater depth and allow me to experiment with the context of subtitles more boldly, particularly engaging with other artists and researching in depth. For this residency, I will be experimenting with the language of subtitle, and the inaccuracy of auto-generated captions and transcriptions through the medium of video projection.”
– Seo Hye Lee
“We are excited to work with Seo Hye Lee and Vital Capacities for this online residency. The programme offers an innovative and engaging online platform – we have really enjoyed exploring past programmes and look forward to collaborating on the June edition. Seo Hye Lee’s work carefully interrogates experiences of audio-visual communication (and mis-communication) – a key theme in our ‘About the Digital’ collecting strand – and something which has only increased in resonance for many of us since the pandemic. Her work will be an important addition to our collection.”
– Stephanie Fletcher, Assistant Curator
She joins artists Laura Lulika – a chronically sick and disabled queer artist exploring themes of care, sexuality, labour, sickness, and performativity in the everyday; and Linda Stupart – a South African artist, writer and educator based in Birmingham, interested in objectification, abjection, science fiction and revenge.
Follow the residencies online from 1st June at vitalcapacities.com
Vital Capacities has been created by videoclub in consultation with artists, digital inclusion specialist Sarah Pickthall and website designer Oli Pyle.
