Lee Bul

The Fondation Cartier will be housing an exhibition of the work of the multimedia Korean artist, Lee Bul. A number of the works she is creating are in homage to the theoretical writings and realised work of the German architect and theorist, Bruno Taut. Taut wrote anarchist theories about habitat constructions and was a visionary architect – taking the English Garden City Movement’s approach to urban planning back with him to Germany (he completed two housing projects in Magdeberg from 1912 through 1915). He translated Nietzsche’s writings in his architecture and realised constructions of glass buildings (such as the 1914 Glass Pavilion at the Cologne Werkbund Exhibition). Through Taut, Lee Bul develops works created entirely out of glass, creating utopian architecture, landscapes and buildings. Of course, the Fondation Cartier, designed by Jean Nouvel, is designed almost entirely in glass and Bul’s work, suspended from floor to ceiling, will reflect movement and light within and without. Bul’s work will create a habitat of architectural references with universal and, on occasion, specifically Korean, social and historical meaning. Her work has always revolved around the human figure and its scale and despite there being no human figure in this show, it is omnipresent nonetheless.

Lee Bul