| The New York Optimist July 2008, Vol. 01: Issue 01 |
Bio & Resumé
Miru Kim is a New York-based artist who has explored various urban ruins
such as abandoned subway stations, tunnels, sewers, catacombs, factories,
hospitals, and shipyards. She was featured as one of the America's Best
and Brightest 2007 in Esquire magazine. Her work has appeared in various
other media such as The New York Times, The Financial Times, Time Out
New York, The Korea Daily, La Stampa, JoongAng Daily, Dong-A Daily,
HDNet TV, ProSieben, New York Times Upfront, Yen Magazine,
AnimalNewYork.com, Gothamist.com, and in many shows in NYC and
Berlin.
Miru was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts in 1981 but was raised in
Seoul, Korea. She moved back to Massachusetts in 1995 to attend Phillips
Academy in Andover, and moved to New York City in 1999 to attend
Columbia University. In 2006, she received an MFA in painting from Pratt
Institute.
Miru Kim is a New York-based artist who has explored various urban ruins
such as abandoned subway stations, tunnels, sewers, catacombs, factories,
hospitals, and shipyards. She was featured as one of the America's Best
and Brightest 2007 in Esquire magazine. Her work has appeared in various
other media such as The New York Times, The Financial Times, Time Out
New York, The Korea Daily, La Stampa, JoongAng Daily, Dong-A Daily,
HDNet TV, ProSieben, New York Times Upfront, Yen Magazine,
AnimalNewYork.com, Gothamist.com, and in many shows in NYC and
Berlin.
Miru was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts in 1981 but was raised in
Seoul, Korea. She moved back to Massachusetts in 1995 to attend Phillips
Academy in Andover, and moved to New York City in 1999 to attend
Columbia University. In 2006, she received an MFA in painting from Pratt
Institute.
| Photographer & Filmmaker Miru Kim: Naked City Spleen |
| Press Colby Buzzell, “Miru Kim Takes Pictures,” Esquire, Best and Brightest Issue, December 2007 It started in a cavernous basement in Berlin. Miru Kim loves abandoned, forbidding, frightening places. She was shooting, but something was missing. "I wanted to put something else in there. A living thing." Esquire Website John O’Connor, “We’ll climb that bridge when we come to it,” Financial Times Magazine, December 1/2 2007 "I love rats," Miru says. "Down here I can see myself as some kind of animal, burrowing in the dirt and the darkness." Financial Times Website Ben Gibberd, “Children of Darkness,” The New York Times, The City Section, July 29, 2007 They plumb tunnels, trestles and other abandoned places, often illicitly, and in those shadow cities find the pulsing center of New York. New York Times Website Exclusive Multimedia Interview Howard Halle, “Tunnel Vision,” Time Out New York, July 13-19, 2006 Reprinted in Time Out New York Student Guide, 2007/2008 Time Out New York Website |
May 2006 © Miru Kim
If there were such merchandise as vials containing extracts of scents specific to a
city, I would collect a set of them for each city I visit. Each vial would have a special
power to transport me back to a particular time and space – roasting chestnuts by
Notre Dame, fresh baked goods at the corner of rue Rousselet and rue de Sèvres,
mulled wine at the Christmas market in Gendarmenmarkt, brown coal in a friendÂ’s
old East Berlin apartment, coffee brewing at the bagel stand every morning outside my
building in Chelsea, steam rising from the manholes on 8th avenue, burning pretzels by
Rockefeller, …, the list goes on. To preserve that special force of transportation back
to a place in memory, I would have to use them very rarely.
If there were such merchandise as vials containing extracts of scents specific to a
city, I would collect a set of them for each city I visit. Each vial would have a special
power to transport me back to a particular time and space – roasting chestnuts by
Notre Dame, fresh baked goods at the corner of rue Rousselet and rue de Sèvres,
mulled wine at the Christmas market in Gendarmenmarkt, brown coal in a friendÂ’s
old East Berlin apartment, coffee brewing at the bagel stand every morning outside my
building in Chelsea, steam rising from the manholes on 8th avenue, burning pretzels by
Rockefeller, …, the list goes on. To preserve that special force of transportation back
to a place in memory, I would have to use them very rarely.
You are cordially invited to the opening reception of Naked City
Spleen, an installation by Miru Kim and Isidore Roussel.
There will be a screening of the film, BLIND DOOR, and of the
video, BLIND WINDOW, along with the NAKED CITY SPLEEN
photo series.
Time and Date: Friday, July 11th, 7 PM to 11 PM.
Special Performance by HARIKO, experimental electronic band
extraordinaire.
Beer and Wine will be served.
There are two more events for the show, so even if you miss the
opening, you can come to the next events!
Special Viewing: Friday, July 18th, 7 PM to 11 PM
Closing Party: Friday, July 25th, 7 PM to 11 PM
Both will host live performances and beer and wine will be served.
The map is also attached. Free ferry service from Wall Street.
Ferry to IKEA runs from wall street Pier 11 every 40 minutes after 6
PM. 6:00, 6:40, 7:20 so on.
You can also take the F train to Smith-9th and take the Bus 77 to Van
Brunt street.
Spleen, an installation by Miru Kim and Isidore Roussel.
There will be a screening of the film, BLIND DOOR, and of the
video, BLIND WINDOW, along with the NAKED CITY SPLEEN
photo series.
Time and Date: Friday, July 11th, 7 PM to 11 PM.
Special Performance by HARIKO, experimental electronic band
extraordinaire.
Beer and Wine will be served.
There are two more events for the show, so even if you miss the
opening, you can come to the next events!
Special Viewing: Friday, July 18th, 7 PM to 11 PM
Closing Party: Friday, July 25th, 7 PM to 11 PM
Both will host live performances and beer and wine will be served.
The map is also attached. Free ferry service from Wall Street.
Ferry to IKEA runs from wall street Pier 11 every 40 minutes after 6
PM. 6:00, 6:40, 7:20 so on.
You can also take the F train to Smith-9th and take the Bus 77 to Van
Brunt street.
| Naked City Spleen |
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