Do it for the story, 

My childhood friend Mia always said.

She changed her names and her hair colors, 

And swapped her friend groups like the seasons.

She fueled rumors further if they came her way. 

Each moment was an opportunity to elaborate a pipe dream; 

A different destiny.

Gossip was rendered as facts, and history as hearsay. 

News became pungent myths, 

Unlicensed vestiges

Images were proofs of always disputable facts.

Through that she created her world

One comprised of dramatized souvenirs, 

Literally, “occurrences to the mind.”

Each object a chance to contain a different time and space. 

Trinkets from other realities whose provenance were all but lost. 

I, like Mia, am very rich with artifacts, and I collect them, obsessively. 

Miniatures, gadgets, religious figurines

Marking unhappened weddings in other countries.

The point is not their veracity but their presence

I like them as concretized memories even if they increasingly mystify me. 

Every time I touch them,

Or listen to their stories

I lose my way

in a vapor of relics. 

I should like to end my days surrounded by my things,

As a collector of narrative.

Perhaps, when strangers find me,

Stories will flow from their cracked veneers.

Jeppe Ugelvig, 2023

Jieun Lim (b.1983, Seoul, KR) lives and works in Düsseldorf. 

Solo and group exhibitions include: 2023 House of DGF, organized by Serpentine Gallery and Cork Street Galleries, London; Stay Hungry at ERMES ERMES; 2022 Decolonizing The Unconscious at Lore Deutz, Cologne, DE; Panorama curated by Vincenzo De Bellis, Monopoli; Internationale Bergische Kunstausstellung at Kunstmseum Solingen, Solingen; Feminist Art Price 2022, at IKOB Museum, Eupen; 2021 cu-cu-rru-cu-cu’with Sangchul Lee at Bloom, Düsseldorf, DE: Scallops #2 Premiere at LC Queisser, Tbilisi, GA; 2021 Illuminating, curated by Eva Fabbris and Giovanna Manzotti, Lugano; 2019 Polke und die Folgen - Neuerwerbungen, at Akademie Galerie, Die Neue Sammlung, Düsseldorf; Planet 58 at Kunstsammlung Museum, Düsseldorf; 2018 Appearing unannounced, curated by Sathit Sattarasart at Rirkrit Tiravanija’s Studio, Chiangmai; The crust repeatedly rises and falls, at Shinhan Gallery, Seoul, KR; Coop, curated by Muriel Meyer, Bangkok Biennial, Bangkok.

We would like to thank the Arts Council Korea for the kind support.

Image Caption

Jieun Lim, Ai generated image, 2023

13x15,4cm

digital print

Courtesy of the Artis and Ermes Ermes

Photo Credit: Jieun Lim