Ansan, March 22 – June 23, 2024, https://gmoma.ggcf.kr
YALOO was a self-titled solo show by an U.S. based Korean 3D animator YALOO 얄루. The work was formally perfect, beautiful 3D animations inspired by ocean plants and the undersea world. The installation was also top notch, with one large floor projection, simulating the view into the “depths” of the sea, a scaffolding sculpture adorned with face masks creating a semi-transparent partition, and an overwhelming grand finale with a huge projection on a semi-transparent screen featuring what probably was the artists face accompanied by autotune singing. The projection image was doubled through the semi-transparent screen and allowed the visitors to literarily walk in between the layers of the image. An adjacent post-climax room featured an archive where one could browse through the portfolio and accomplishments of the artist on her online presentation.
The whole thing was such a perfect package, pleasant, attuned to the current trends, taking into account the sensibilities of the stakeholders (references to Korean seaweed, etc.). It’s hard to say anything bad about it except to complain about its sleekness and perfection. A kind of ideal, uncontroversial, universal, contemporary media art product suitable for persons of all ages and backgrounds. Who doesn’t like a nice brightly colored fairy tale about the sea, the place where all life originated, spiced up with a bit of futurist-dystopian AI tech hype powder and rounded up with a couple of subtle references to K-beauty and every Korean’s comfort food?
