Various Small Fires is pleased to present Liz Magic Laser’s first solo exhibition in Asia. As a traveling presentation from Laser’s most recent exhibition at VSF Los Angeles, this debut presentation in Seoul introduces both the artist’s earlier work Mine (2009) and latest institutional project Handle / Poignée (2018), which was commissioned by Centre Pompidou for MOVE Festival in Paris. The exhibition examines the techno-utopian logic of the scientifically managed self and the sociality that hyper-productivity forges.
Presented through the window, the video Mine displays assiduous robotic hands delving, pinching, snipping, and suturing through the contents of her purse: identity cards, dollar bills and makeup. Upon witnessing a friend’s distress over a stolen purse, Laser equated the incident as a loss of identity and began exploring concerns associated with personal identity and surveillance in modern society. Laser worked with a professional surgeon to direct the da Vinci Surgical System robot to perform a series of surgical maneuvers on her purse. The invasive procedures both expose and destroy her personal belongings, leaving a disorganized pile that recalls an abstract expressionist assemblage. Serving as a self-portrait that reduces individual identity to its paraphernalia, the jumble of destroyed items exhibits the invasion of privacy and personal autonomy.
Handle / Poignée is a performance and video installation imagining a consulting firm for analyzing and rehabilitating relations between liberals and conservatives. The interactive piece offers a personality test and treatment center where the public learns therapeutic movement for their political-personality type.
