In the black box dedicated to moving images on the second floor of Palazzo Diedo, Berggruen Art & Culture presents the premiere screening of the latest film by Koo Jeong A, who is also representing the Korean Pavilion at this year’s Biennale Arte. Her work, “OUSSS,” is a 3D piece that borders on animation and science fiction and will be shown every Thursday for the duration of the Biennale.
The work centers on the phosphorescent skatepark OTRO, developed by the artist between 2007 and 2012 on the island of Vassivière in Beaumont-du-Lac, France. With its unique bowl-shaped curves connected by three tunnels, this 2300-square-foot phosphorescent structure is inspired by the sinuous shapes of a lakeshore, allowing users to skate through a man-made landscape, becoming part of the natural environment. Using cinematic techniques and a stereoscopic format, the film asks what it feels like to experience “OUSSS” in real time, so that our senses are simultaneously awakened and sent into a dream space. The OTRO skatepark is the medium through which we enter this dreamlike space; it is a structure that absorbs light energy during the day and radiates it outward at night. Our experience of OUSSS is akin to the hypnagogic moments that precede sleep, when our concrete perception begins to unravel and other sensory and emotional possibilities open up.
