Accumulated Silence Layer

Accumulated Silence Layer by Jee Hee Park is an installation presenting her work in progress alongside archival materials from previous creations, as such, it situates her current project within the context of a global, layered approach. The golden hues of fungi collected in Paris last October fill the Vitrine case with colour and life, their organic vitality contrasting with the urban landscape. A striking sculpture made from a single polarising filtre occupies a central position. Through its interactions with the foreground and background, the sculpture is metamorphosed into a dynamic three-dimensional form that embodies the expanded perspective that underpins Park’s practice.

Her approach draws inspiration from Ville Spatiale (1956) by Yona Friedman, which envisioned a flexible form of user-centred urban architecture. While Friedman emphasised human agency, Park broadens this vision by incorporating other elements such as fungi and, in so doing, reinterprets architecture within the context of a historic city such as Paris.

Fungi, often regarded as intrusive elements in man-made environments, are in fact native to the soil and predate urban landscapes by millennia. By reconsidering cities as shared habitats – spaces that embrace all forms of life, not solely human – could Yona Friedman’s ideal city emerge not just through human innovation, but also through the invisible actions of airborne fungi silently crafting their worlds within ours?

Jee Hee Park (South Korea) is in residence with the support of the Samsung Foundation of Culture