Seoul, September 3 – 25, 2015, http://cakegallery.kr/
Cake Gallery is located in Dongmyo, Seoul, an area of flea markets and small metal work, wood work and second hand appliances shops. As such it seems to be a forerunner of a future gentrification project if it succeeds. Tucked away in the 6th floor of a building, it is rather hidden, but easy to find when following a map. Inside, the gallery looks clean and spacious, more than one would expect given the narrow crowded street and corridor that leads to its entrance.
Jeong Ki Hoon’s (정기훈) solo exhibition echoed the business activities that were going on outside of the gallery: A video of hands that slowly grind down a Korean copper penny into dust. A video of a chair whose legs are being repeatedly cut shorter in a futile attempt to stop it from wobbling on a stone-filled beach. A bunch of hot peppers drying on the floor, illuminated by a circle of light reflected from a mirror – a simulated sun. A pile of crystal/metal flakes (from grinding down the penny?). An arrangement of slices from chair’s legs (a result of the video shooting?). And ultimately, a roll of toilet paper, slightly shivering in the air.
An exhibition about labor, and the futility of labor, which, however, cannot be given up anyway. Results of work that just turn into dust, yet has to be repeated as a kind of keeping-alive ritual, not too different from the digestive system which also needs a constant supply of food, only in order to transform it into excrement while keeping us going. 
