The Intermediates

The Intermediates
2015-

Straw sculptures

The Intermediate – Aging Bluing Shield
2019

Powder-coated stainless steel frame, powder-coated mesh, plastic twine

210 x 122 x 54 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin

Photo: Nick Ash

The Intermediate – Carbonous Shoots of Rocky Island
2019

Powder-coated stainless steel frame, powder-coated mesh, plastic twine

150 x 116 x 50 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin

Photo: Nick Ash

The Intermediate – Carbonous Stonefish Shield
2019

Powder-coated stainless steel frame, powder-coated mesh, lamp shades, plastic twine, black brass, brass, copper and nickel plated bells, metal rings

195 x 120 x 58 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin

Photo: Nick Ash

The Intermediate – Frosty Lion Shield Dance
2019

Powder-coated stainless steel frame, powder-coated mesh, plastic twine, plastic raffia string, fashion jewelry

209 x 120 x 55 cm

Courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

Photo: Mark Blower

The Intermediate – Moonstruck Turbine Vents, White
2019

Powder-coated stainless steel frame, turbine vents, plastic twine

95 x 95 x 63 cm

Courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Weary Bell Bottom Hairy Hug Senior
2018

Powder-coated steel frame, powder-coated metal grid, casters, brass plated bells, metal rings, plastic twine

170 x 65 x 65 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin

Installation view of And Berlin Will Always Need You, Gropius Bau, Berlin, 2019
Photo: Nick Ash

The Intermediate – Weary Hairy Hug Senior
2018

Powder-coated steel frame, powder-coated metal grid, casters, plastic twine

168 x 68 x 60 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin

Installation view of And Berlin Will Always Need You, Gropius Bau, Berlin, 2019
Photo: Nick Ash

The Intermediate – Weary Hairy Hug Junior
2018

Powder-coated steel frame, powder-coated metal grid, casters, plastic twine

132 x 66 x 58 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin

Installation view of And Berlin Will Always Need You, Gropius Bau, Berlin, 2019
Photo: Nick Ash

The Intermediate – Occitanian Vagabond
2018

Powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, plastic twine, jute twine, fabric samples, pom-poms, metal grommets, metal rings

191 x 75 x 70 cm

Courtesy of the artist

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Dangling Hairy Hug
2018

Powder-coated steel frame, powder-coated metal grid, steel wire rope, plastic twine

240 x 70 x 73 cm

Courtesy of the artist

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Carbonous Dry Windless Ceremonial
2018

Powder-coated, stainless steel frame, plastic twine Korean bridal crowns, artificial plants, yarn rattles

120 x 102 x 38 cm

Courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

Photo: Omar Luis Olguín

The Intermediate – Domestics of Obscuring Eggy Swirls
2017

Artifical straw, plastic twine, powder coated steel stand

107 x 102 x 110 cm

Courtesy of Kukje Gallery, Seoul

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Psychic Turbine Vents Ball
2017

Artificial straw, powder-coated stainless steel frame, ball casters, turbine vents

92 x 120 x 120 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris

Installation view of Haegue Yang: Quasi-ESP, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris, France, 2017
Photo: Florian Kleinefenn

The Intermediate – Antenna Basket on Rings
2017

Artificial straw, powder-coated stainless steel frame, steel wire rope, artificial plants, TV antennas

180 x 80 x 80 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris

Installation view of Haegue Yang: Quasi-ESP, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris, France, 2017
Photo: Florian Kleinefenn

The Intermediate – Ball with Hairy Ear Rings
2017

Artificial straw, powder-coated stainless steel frame, steel wire rope

175 x 65 x 45 cm

Private collection, Taiwan

Installation view of Haegue Yang: Quasi-ESP, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris, France, 2017
Photo: Florian Kleinefenn

The Intermediate – UHHHHH Creature Extended W
2017

Artificial straw, powder-coated stainless steel hanging structure, powder-coated stainless steel frame, steel wire rope, Neoseul, Bupo

580 x 750 x 60 cm

Courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

Installation view of Ornament and Abstraction, kurimanzutto, Mexico City, Mexico, 2017
Photo: Omar Luis Olguín

The Intermediate – Arcane Raggedy Trunk
2017

Artificial straw, powder-coated stainless steel stand, casters, turbine vent, cotton twine, nylon cord

195 x 100 x 100 cm

Courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

Photo: Omar Luis Olguín

The Intermediate – Monsoon Mourning Spheres and Disks
2017

Artificial straw, powder-coated stainless steel stand, casters, artificial plants, turbine vents

170 x 110 x 110 cm

Courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

Photo: Omar Luis Olguín

The Intermediate – Windy Saekdong Corn Extravaganza
2017

Artificial straw, plastic twine, stainless steel frame, powder coating, artificial plants, Saekdong fabric, turbine vent

119 x 101 x 39 cm

Courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

Photo: Omar Luis Olguín

The Intermediate – Bristly Raggedy Nosy
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, cotton twine, folkloric tricolor band, tassels, artificial fruits, Korean bridal crowns

176 x 117 x 113 cm

Private collection, Mexico City

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

Installation view of Ornament and Abstraction, kurimanzutto, Mexico City, Mexico, 2017
Photo: Omar Luis Olguín

The Intermediate – Sea Urchin Dragon Dance
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated stainless steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, plastic raffia string, plastic twine, artificial plants

145x 125 x 120 cm

Courtesy of The Berezdevin Collection, Puerto Rico

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Ikebana Dragon Ball
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, artificial plants, gourd, Neoseul

156 x 125 x 127 cm

Courtesy of Kukje Gallery, Seoul

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Windy Uninhabited Island
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated stainless steel frame, powder-coated metal grid, turbine vent

120 x 86 x 53 cm

Private collection, Switzerland

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

Installation view of Beautiful world, where are you?, Liverpool Biennial, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, UK, 2018
Photo: Roger Sinek, Tate Liverpool

The Intermediate – Tilted Bushy Lumpy Bumpy
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters

203 x 120 x 120 cm

Collection Kemmler, Germany

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Narrating Solid Cloud II
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated stainless steel frame, powder-coated metal grid, plastic raffia string, Indian bells, miniature motorcycles, diorama gures, passive components, dried plants

70 x 80 x 24 cm

Eleanor & Francis Shen Collection, Toronto

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Narrating Solid Cloud I
2016

Artificial straw, powder coated stainless steel stand, plastic twine, artificial plants, artificial driftwood, passive components, diorama figures, casters

46 x 110 x 88 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Running Squeezed Two-tone Fan Dance
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, plastic raffia string, Korean traditional hairpins

150 x 105 x 85 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Tilted Bushy-head Junior
2016

Artificial straw, powder coated steel stand, casters

173 x 76 x 76 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Uninhibited Island in New Year Saekdong
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel frame, powder-coated metal grid, Saekdong fabric, diorama gures, passive components

103 x 83 x 40 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Running Dragon King of the Sea
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, plastic raffia string

155 x 120 x120 cm

Collection Aïshti Foundation, Beirut

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

Installation view of Haegue Yang: ETA 1994–2018. Wolfgang Hahn Prize, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 2018
Photo: Museum Ludwig, Saša Fuis, Cologne

The Intermediate – Long Neck Woman Upside Down
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, casters, plastic fans, rattles, artificial plants, Saekdong fabric, Indian bells

182 x 123 x 110 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Narrating Sea Squirt Alienage
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, casters, diorama figures, tassels, artificial plants, passive components

195 x 90 x 80 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Ikebana Alienage
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, artificial plants, artificial vegetables, artificial stones

85 x 135 x 83 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

Installation view of Quasi-Pagan Modern, Galeries Lafayette, Paris, France, 2016
Photo © Thibaut Voisin – Galeries Lafayette

Installation view of Quasi-Pagan Modern, Galeries Lafayette, Paris, France, 2016
Photo: Florian Kleinefenn

The Intermediate – Uninhabited Island in Fiction II
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel frame, powder-coated metal grid, artificial plants, artificial vegetables
125 x 105 x 48 cm

Courtesy of Kukje Gallery, Seoul

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Uninhabited Island in Fiction I
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel frame, powder-coated metal grid, artificial plants

170 x 97 x 45 cm

Private collection, Taipei, Taiwan

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Rolling Bushy Nosy
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, artificial plants, artificial vegetables, casters

184 x 105 x 123 cm

A Art Foundation, London

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Harvest Spell
2016

Artificial straw, powder coated steel stand, casters, plastic twine, artificial plants, Indian bells

193 x 115 x 115 cm

Stiftung für die Hamburger Kunstsammlungen

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Hairy All Over
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters

169 x 115 x 115 cm

Stiftung für die Hamburger Kunstsammlungen

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Fan Dance around a Pagoda
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, plastic raffia string, artificial plants

162 x 117 x 117 cm

Stiftung für die Hamburger Kunstsammlungen

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Pungmul Ball
2016

Artificial straw, powder coated steel stand, casters, plastic twine, artificial plants, cord, feathers, metal bells

125 x 125 x 128 cm

Stiftung für die Hamburger Kunstsammlungen

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Inceptive Sphere
2016

Artificial straw, powder coated steel stand, artificial plants, artificial fruits, plastic twine, Indian bells, casters
135 x 115 x 115 cm

Collection of ICA, Boston

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Asymmetric Quadrupedal Bushy-head
2016

Artificial straw, powder coated steel stand, casters

195 x 115 x 110 cm

Private collection, Singapore

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Naturalized Klangkörper
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, casters, plastic raffia string, artificial plants, artificial fruits, artificial vegetables, Indian bells, fringe

180 x 150 x 100 cm

Courtesy of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Dragon Conglomerate
2016

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, plastic raffia string
180 x 115 x 115 cm

Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins, New York

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Hairy Taoist Fairy Egg
2015

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, plastic raffia string

156 x 124 x 133 cm

Private collection, Beijing

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Ceremonial Peacock Ball
2015

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, Indian bells, Korean bridal crowns, artificial feathers

116 x 128 x 130 cm

Courtesy of dépendance, Brussels

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Celebration of Three Spheres III
2015

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, casters, plastic raffia string, nickel plated bells, artificial plants, Korean bridal crowns, nest basket, artificial featherss

190 x 90 x 140 cm

Private collection

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Celebration of Three Spheres II
2015

Artificial straw, powdercoated steel stand, casters, plastic raffia

185 x 85 x 115 cm

Private collection

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Airflow of Pyramid Winnow
2015

Artificial straw, powder coated steel stand, casters, artificial plants, plastic twine

180 x 95 x 95 cm

Courtesy of Kukje Gallery, Seoul

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Long Neck Woman
2015

Artificial straw, powder coated steel stand, casters, artificial plants

220 x 97 x 90 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Scruffy Dragon Ball
2015

Arti cial straw, powder- coated steel stand, powder- coated metal grid, casters, plastic raf a string, nickel plated bells, Korean bridal crowns

125 x 135 x 135 cm

Collection of Rudy Tseng collection, Taipei, Taiwan

Photo: Studio Haegue Yang

The Intermediate – Pair Incarnate, Gwynplaine and Ursus
2015

Artificial straw, powder coated steel stand, casters, plastic twine, metal bells, Korean bridal crowns

220 x 110 x 90 cm

Private collection, Stuttgart

Photo: Nich Ash

The Intermediate – Pair Incarnate, Gwynplaine and Dea
2015

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, casters, plastic raffia string, plastic twine, artificial plants, thimbles, Korean bridal crowns

170 x 185 x 90 cm

Courtesy of Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin

Photo: Nich Ash

The Intermediate – Extraterritorial and Extraterrestrial Target on Gourd
2015

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, casters, turbine vents, root carving, plastic raffia string, artificial plants, pine cones, wigs, Indian bells, Korean bridal crowns

158 x 130 x 90 cm

Collection Ignacio López Beguiristain and Laura Guerra, Puerto Rico

Photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano

The Intermediate – Lion Dance on One Leg
2015

Artificial straw, powder coated steel stand, casters, Indian bells, plastic twine, knitting yarn, cord, Korean bridal crowns

215 x 160 x 94 cm

Collection of Leo Shih

The Intermediate – Basket Totem on Triple Leg
2015

Artificial straw, powder coated steel stand, casters, plastic twine, cotton twine, jute twine, knitting yarn, cord, artificial feathers, seashells, conch shells, metal rings, metal chain, metal bells

230 x 105 x 95 cm

Collection of Leo Shih

The Intermediate – Chinese Bride
2015

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, casters, jute twine, folkloric tricolor band, Indian bells, gourds

190 x 125 x 130 cm

Collection of Leo Shih

The Intermediate – Triple Sphere on Pyramid Totem
2015

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, casters, plastic raffia string, cord, artificial plants, metal rings, Indian bells, bells

280 x 120 x 120 cm

Collection of Leo Shih

The Intermediate – Hairy Dragon Ball
2015

Artificial straw, powder coated steel stand, metal grid, casters

130 x 130 x 130 cm

Collection of Leo Shih

The Intermediate – Sea Lotus
2015

Artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, casters, root carving, cotton twine, jute twine, cord, artificial seaweed, barnacles, abalone shells, seashells, conch shells, metal basket, palm tree basket, coconut basket, gourds, wood perches, bird toys, trumpet, rubber object

215 x 110 x 110 cm

Collection of Leo Shih

The Intermediate – After Lala Tulpan
2015

Artificial straw, aluminum profile, steel frame, powder coating
Pyramid: 320 x 498 x 498 cm
Columns: 2 pieces, each 595 x 210 x 210 cm

Courtesy of the artist

Installation view of Shooting the Elephant 象 Thinking the Elephant, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea, 2015
Photo: © Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art

The Intermediate – After Borobudur
2015

Artificial straw, aluminum profile, powder coating, plastic twine
275 x 489 x 585 cm

Courtesy of the artist

Installation view of Shooting the Elephant 象 Thinking the Elephant, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea, 2015
Photo: © Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art

The Intermediate – After El Castillo
2015

Artificial straw, aluminum profile, powder coating

405 x 570 x 599 cm

Courtesy of the artist

Installation view of Shooting the Elephant 象 Thinking the Elephant, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea, 2015
Photo: © Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art

The Intermediates, a new group of works introducing extensive straw craftwork, focuses on the dispersion of materials and craft. While the various cultures of different regions have a degree of fundamental similarity, each civilization also constructs its own individuality; these works likewise explore folk concepts that have their own independent identity but, at the same time, a certain universality. Using straw―a material with folk implications, but which is common across human civilization―and the methodology of traditional straw craftwork, the artist approaches a level of interdisciplinary hybrid culture that transcends similarity and difference.

On the other hand, the material used in The Intermediates is artificial, not natural, straw. In earlier works like Female Natives (2010) the artist has used artificial materials such as plastic plants that represent nature in an industrial light. Humorously reflecting our modern environment and the ways in which it can cheaply, easily imitate and substitute nature, the artist ironically evokes the organic materials, crafts, and memories of nature originally implied by commercial substitutions that are routinely consumed and forgotten.

In the artist’s new sculptural group The Intermediates, three works make references to architecture from different cultures and religions. These include El Castillo, known as The Pyramid of Kukulcan, from the Mayan civilization; the Borobudur Temple, an ancient Buddhist temple in Indonesia estimated to have been constructed in the early 8th century; and Russia’s Lala Tulpan, constructed in the late 20th century and known as the “Tulip in Bloom.” These three landmarks, with contexts and styles derived from different periods, geographies, and religions, are not a representation of mainstream world history but were chosen arbitrarily and subjectively. While larger than models, the sculptures are of a median size that is well below the scale of the actual architecture. They are a colony of architectural representations reduced by an arbitrary ratio, made from prefabricated aluminum frames (not a heavy material meant to endure for centuries) and covered with straw thatching. Here, “intermediate” is not the intermediateness of a particular folklore configured by individual, geographic differences; it is a universal synthesis indicated by a mediation that can be generated only amidst the space between those individual cultures.

Set up between the three Intermediates referencing architecture are another six Intermediates that can be categorized as sculptural figures. Lion Dance on One Leg is a figure standing on one leg with a one-meter- diameter spherical head adorned with a Korean bridal headpiece. Below its large head hang clusters of bells, like those hung around the necks of cows in India and ones used in shamanistic rituals and festivals; on the rear of its head is a cape in the form of a long tongue. Standing at 2.8 meters, Triple Sphere on Pyramid Totem is a figure consisting of three small, spherical heads decorated with a fountain-shaped ornament over a quadrangular pyramid torso. Vintage Indian bells hang from the three spheres, and artificial cacti and succulents sprout from the corners of the pyramid, as if growing out of the dried straw. Basket Totem on Triple Leg bears a densely-woven straw basket on its head and clutches a straw doll to its torso. Hairy Dragon Ball is the only piece that is not a vertical figure; spherical, it looks as if it will roll around the gallery space, with a head of unkempt hair made from densely-packed straw as if sprouting out from a thatched roofline. Chinese Bride is a seated figure resembling a bride covered head-to-toe in cloth in preparation for her wedding ceremony. Sea Lotus is a sculpture of a lotus blossom not yet fully in bloom. Bearing four petals on a base made from a root carving and adorned with clamshells and artificial seaweed, it appears as if it rose from the sea.

This installation group is formed through the combination of large, straw sculptures with familiar, regional architectural forms and figurative sculptures whose forms are at once geometrical and organic. Following The Intermediates into the interior of the exhibition space, we find ourselves in a location that seems ancient yet at the same time resembles an unfamiliar, otherworldly landscape. Straw, while associated with folklore, at a glance calls to mind totems of mysterious ideas lying dormant. The Intermediates bring on momentary collisions between disparate feelings and intimate emotions, arousing an awareness of a new hybrid sense of time and place.

(Shooting the Elephant 象Thinking the Elephant Exhibition Catalogue, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea, 2015)