Bronx Calling: the Fifth AIM Biennial
Group Exhibition at , the Bronx Museum of the Arts
November 10, 2021 - March 20, 2022
The digital catalog (The 360 view of the biennial) viewable via this link
sour, crispy, sweet, fiery
2021, 19’ 06” Video with jalapeño pickle jars installed at the Bronx Museum.
The work listed one’s senses in the title, as it is a realistic video that shows the process of making jalapeno pickles in Mason jars. In this work, Nari Kim explores intersectionality, Subalterinity and how these subjects affect the meaning or interpretations of art.
The questions can be applied to the subject of the video; what if the main performer was a heterosexual man? What if the main performer was a hetero women? A lesbian? Gay? Intersex? Genderqueer? Non-binary? White? BIPOC? Native? Immigrant? Foreign? Middle class? Working class?
The video is an reciprocate to the artists’ subaltern identity herself – an Asian, colored, single woman foreigner, living in East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, El Barrio – finding similarities between Korean and Latin American cultures – spicy food is essential in both cultures and hinted toward the jalapeno pickles being canned in Mason jars, an American-made and produced company.
The video is viewable via https://vimeo.com/559743673
Installation view
Between 36 and 72 jars of jalapeno pickles were installed throughout the exhibition space, carefully avoiding any disruption to other artists’ works. This installation represents a state of emergency, symbolizing the pickle jars as essential food supplies for survival.
The number 36 reflects the amount needed to sustain the artist for three years, assuming a consumption rate of one jar per month. 72 jars, on the other hand, represent the supply required for her personal consumption of two jars per month over three years.
The jars were dispersed throughout the space, with one or two placed on small shelves at a height of 8 feet from the floor.