Press Release 2010/10/26

Jae-Eun Choi
Forests of Aśoka
September 11 (Sat.) – December 26 (Sun.), 2010

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The Other Side of Illusion 1003017080220, 2010, color photograph

The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art is currently holding the first solo exhibition in a Japanese museum by theKorean female artist Jae-Eun Choi. For her theme, Choi has chosen the image of the tree, inspired by the story of thegreat Emperor Aśoka of India. The famed propagator of Buddhism ordered each subject in his kingdom to plant and carefor five trees, each with a different purpose: one for the curing of diseases, one for fruit, one for firewood, one for housebuilding, and one for flowers. Aśoka called them the “five small forests.”
This image of the tree is one that transcends time. This tree is also a source of mercy that arises
from the abyss to offer boundless serenity to all living things even as it reaches out towards
eternity.
The relationship between humans and trees has not changed since time immemorial. Be that as it
may, it underscores the change that all things in this world must undergo. Borges once said “allspiritual experiences of human beings are reduced to the experience of time.” It is in that sensethat the tree is truly a spiritual intermediary.
―From the concept note of the artist―

Reflecting on the great flow of life which encompasses the forest and the eternal rapport that has existed between trees
and humans, Choi has given birth to a “forest" within the museum.
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List of Works
Gallery I: Forests of Aśoka, 2010, installation
Gallery II: Forever and a Day, 2010, video installation
Gallery III: Since when has the forest been there?, 2010, video installation
Galleries IV, V: The Other Side of Illusion, 2010, color photographs
Exhibition Data
Exhibition title: Jae-Eun Choi―Forests of AśokaDates: September 11 (Sat.) – December 26 (Sun.), 2010
Organized by: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
Under the auspices of: Korean Embassy in Japan, Korean Cultural Center
Supported by: MRA Foundation Japan
Sponsored by: SAMSUNG, Maeil Dairies Co., Ltd.
Cooperation provided by: Kukje Gallery

Place: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, 4-7-25, Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0001
Tel: 03-3445-0651 Fax: 03-3473-0104 E-mail: info@haramuseum.or.jp
Website http://www.haramuseum.or.jp Mobile site http://mobile.haramuseum.or.jp
http://www.art-it.asia/u/HaraMuseum/ (blog)
Hours: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, Wednesdays (except November 3) until 8:00 pm *last entry 30 min. before closing
Closed: Mondays (open on September 20, October 11), September 21, October 12
Admission: General 1,000 yen; Students 700 yen (high school and university) or 500 yen (elementary and juniorhigh); Free for Hara Museum members, students through high school every Saturday during the school terms. 100 yen
discount per person for groups of 20 or more.
Directions: 5 min. by taxi or 15 min. on foot from JR Shinagawa Station (Takanawa exit); or from the same station
take the No.96 bus, get off at the first stop (Gotenyama), and walk 3 min./ BloomBUS! free shuttle bus service isbeing provided between Shinagawa Station (Takanawa exit) and the Hara Museum every Sunday (Sponsored by:Bloomberg L.P./ Artist: Yasuhiro Suzuki). Please check the Hara Museum website for further details.
Related events: September 18 (Sat.) 2:30-4:00 pm Dialogue between Jae-Eun Choi and Hiroshi Minamishima(Professor, Joshibi University of Art and Design)/ October 31 (Sun.) 2:30-3:30 pm Lecture by Keiko Nakamura(Director General, JT Bio-history Research Hall) *Please note that these events are given in Japanese only.
Reservations are required. Tel: 03-3445-0669 E-mail: info@haramuseum.or.jp
Choi, Jae-Eun:
Born in 1953 in Seoul, Korea, Choi first visited Japan in 1976. She became interested inikebana, the traditional art of flower arrangement, and was attracted to innovative style of
the Sogetsu school of ikebana where she became a student. From 1984 to 1987, she worked
as an assistant to Hiroshi Teshigahara, the third generation master of the Sogetsu school andmovie director. In the years that followed, her work began to appear in international art
exhibitions, including the 46th Venice Biennale in 1995 when she was selected as Japan’srepresentative. In 2001, she made her debut as a movie director with the film On The Way.
The spatial concepts and philosophy of the Sogetsu school are reflected in Choi’sinstallations, which take as their raw materials such things as plants, water, air, fire and earth.
With these materials, she creates large works, both indoor and outdoor, in which human life
is layered onto the life stages of plants. Choi began working on the World Underground Project from 1986 at various
locales in the world, including Kyongju, Korea; Imadate in Fukui prefecture, Japan; and a number of places in Europe,
the U.S. and Africa. Homage to Mozart (1988) in the Hara Museum’s collection is one work from this revolutionary
project in which washi (Japanese handmade paper) is buried within the earth for a period of time to allow theenvironment at each locale to take over the “completion” of the work, thereby striking a blow at the conventional ideaof “art” as a product of human artifice. In later works, she used the microscope to explore motifs taken from the microworld. Through her career, the form of Choi’s artworks has undergone unceasing change. What ties them together are
her ideas about and concern for life, which have continued to be the underlying theme in all of her art.

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【Images for Publication】
Please include the following credit along with the captions below:
Please do not trim or alter the images. Putting text over the images is also prohibited.

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Jae-Eun Choi, The Other Side of Illusion 1003017080220, 2010, color photograph

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Jae-Eun Choi, Forests of Aśoka, 2010, installationC.

Jae-Eun Choi, Forever and a Day, 2010, video installation

Photograph by: Shigeo Muto
Photograph by: Shigeo Muto

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Tel: +81-3-3280-0679 Fax: +81-3-5791-7630 E-mail: press@haramuseum.or.jp*do not include above details as contact information in the article for publication.
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