“SuriSuri Mahasuri SuSuri Sabaha” Poster Image ©Alternative Space LOOP
Alternative Space LOOP presents Da-Seoul Lee’s solo exhibition “SuriSuri Mahasuri SuSuri Sabaha”, through April 6.
Da-Seul Lee, orginally from Jeju Island, has been working on coal mining areas in Gangwon Province since 2008, based on his interest in nature and the passage of time. Since returning to Jeju in 2012, he has been working on issues related to nature and the environment in Jeju. “SuriSuri Mahasuri SuSuri Sabaha” explores human desire and contradictions within Jeju’s natural setting.
The exhibition traces the journey from nurturing weeds to the felling of Aronia trees overwhelmed by them. The remnants of these aronia trees, echoing the artist’s childhood dreams, are exhibited alongside Imaginative Painting. The Installation of 1000 Plant Nutrients for the Dead Daisy Fleabane and Horseweed and the Aronia Fields Covered with Weeds embody a decade of the artist’s dedication.
The exhibition’s title “SuriSuri Mahasuri SuSuri Sabaha” originates from the Buddhist Thousand-Arm Sutra, a mantra for purifying karma. As an artist and 10-year farmer, he assigns value to a dedicated yet ostensibly futile act, labeling it as art. The exhibition shows the process from growing weeds to cutting down an aronia tree that was ruined by weeds. The artist aims to reflect on selfishness, the anthropocentric view of nature, and the contradictions of capitalism that measure everything by its utility value.
