THE TALE AND THE TONGUE. To find each other, again

“To find each other, again,” the tenth episode of the The Tale and the Tongue series, follows a conversation with artist Sylbee Kim. The title stems from a comment Sylbee Kim made, when she refers to the situation of meeting again with people, we haven't seen for quite some time. For her the intensity and fragmentary intimacy of many relationships happen during intense work processes, where she collaborates with many other people who also shape her projects. To find each other is a way to find oneself. Being in relationship allows us to perceive that which remains and that which wanders along the way.

Sylbee Kim’s projects radiate a strong interest in life and body consciousness, both social and individual at the same time. Watching Sylbee Kim’s videos, conversations or ideas resonate, that come up recurrently when talking to others: a certain mythological self-expression of capitalism, the confusion between spirituality and religion, the Western tendency to scepticism, the moral superiority of secular and scientific knowledge, socially scripted feelings… In her projects, videos are elements that are part of a larger whole: an environment or an aesthetic ecosystem. Several objects, colors, lights, different intensities of space and sound are equally important in providing an experience for the viewer, who becomes a temporary inhabitant of a temporary setting.

The conversation with Sylbee Kim took place in Berlin in July 2022. She refers to Berlin as a locus of affection. Having grown up mainly in Seoul, passing through other places, and having come to Germany during her student years, her place of belonging is not a specific place, but a constant situation of feeling “in between”. Her words on belongingness remind that to feel at home we need certain places but that we can also feel at home being with certain people. Again, finding each other can be a way for finding oneself.