how to form the self, post pandemic —
FINAL CUT -- when finalities coexist with what is to come.
In the gallery hub of Jongno-gu, Arario Gallery always manages to boast nouveau art that translates into the psyches of our contemporary world.
This time, Arario exhibits men’s avante garde designer brand PAF (Post Archive Faction) that examines the dystopian wear that doesn’t lean far enough into tech-wear or linger too far into couture, but exclaims a maximalism that is lacking in a time where faux minimalism is promoted.
Since 2018, PAF shows us that life isn’t boring. That the end of the world is near, and you can look good in its final days. But here, we see PAF play beyond the realm of fabrics by transcending their design language in furniture, a major focus in the flexibility of steel.
In an all white basement, the furniture pieces are held up on a heaven-lit pedestal made of white glass, paneled so that if you stepped onto the wrong fold, you disrupted the peace kept within the room’s silence.
Here, the furniture exists as borderline sculptures, obstructing normality with angsty yet cool variations of Calder’s sculptures. You could only own such a piece if you owned a Chelsea gallery or a large loft in gentrified Brooklyn.
It made me question my interest in a Corbusier chair I’ve been eyeing. Is it something, in all its grandeur, an object that is required within my own space? I looked around, trying to figure out how any of this fulfills me.
My friend and I walked out in the heavy downpour, umbrellas thrashed, and I felt empty, in need of something in my stomach. Am I no longer fun? Am I no longer set to seek out aesthetics? Has functionality overcome my logical being? What is my form?
PAF’s silhouettes still crowd my mind, making me think of angles, how they interacts with the negative space within my own consciousness, how I’m making amends with the new abnormal that is post-pandemic when I see my family again, when I return to old friends and old cities, again. How am I formed for someone who has been far too far from home?
The discovery of the self is endless. The dissatisfaction that you are constantly feeling is proof that there is more to you, layer after new layer. This is the formulation of the self, open-ended, full of varying answers, ultimately, all of the above.
