Secession Podcast

Artists: Forms of the Shadow – Jin-me Yoon in conversation with Bettina Spörr

On the occasion of the group exhibition Forms of the Shadow, a spontaneous series of conversations with the artists who attended the opening in Vienna has evolved into a podcast mini-series. These audio recordings offer fascinating background information on the works and diverse artistic approaches.
“My work deals with tourism, militarism, colonialism, imperialism—forms of power” says Vancouver-based artist Jin-me Yoon. In her conversation with Bettina Spörr, she revealed that her first university degree was in psychology, a field of study that deeply influenced her artistic practice. She talks among many other topics about her work Beneath (2012) that was filmed in Vienna. Through a seemingly simple action—pushing her body on a moving platform from Sigmund Freud’s former home and office to Heldenplatz, where Hitler was welcomed by thousands during Austria’s annexation in 1938—Yoon directly addresses a profound national trauma. More
The conversation was held on the 21st of September 2024 as part of the exhibition:
Forms of the ShadowCurated by Sunjung Kim20.9. – 17.11.2024
With Nilbar Güreş; Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian; Kyungah Ham; Young In Hong; ikkibawiKrrr; Jane Jin Kaisen; Joon Kim; Lee Bul; Lee Kit; Mikael Levin; Minouk Lim; Moon Kyungwon & Jeon Joonho; Adrián Villar Rojas; Ramiro Wong; Haegue Yang; Tomoko Yoneda; Jin-me Yoon; Min Yoon
Jin-me Yoon (b. 1960, Seoul, KR) is a Vancouver-based artist whose work explores the entangled relations of tourism, militarism, and colonialism. Since the early 1990s, she has used photography, video, and performance to situate her personal experience of migration in relation to unfolding historical, political, and ecological conditions. Through experimental cinematography and the performative gestures of family, friends, and community members, Yoon reconnects repressed pasts with damaged presents, creating the conditions for different futures. Staging her work in charged landscapes, Yoon finds specific points of reference across multiple geopolitical contexts. In so doing, she brings worlds together, affirming the value of difference.
Bettina Spörr is a curator at the Secession and was instrumental in bringing the exhibition to fruition.
The Dorotheum is the exclusive sponsor of the Secession Podcast.
Programmed by the board of the Secession
Jingle: Hui Ye with an excerpt from Combat of dreams for string quartet and audio feed (2016, Christine Lavant Quartett) by Alexander J. EberhardAudio Editor: Paul MacheckExecutive Producer: Bettina Spörr

Artists: Forms of the Shadow – Adrián Villar Rojas in conversation with Bettina Spoerr

The End of Imagination III is a newly reconfigured installation for The Secession. It features a recreation of the famous 1969 moon landing site, upon which two lunar glitched pillars (over which two flags are draped), are placed, as well as a NASA Lunar Exploration Robot. Via this tableaux, Villar Rojas wonders how the Moon, Mars, or any other extra-terrestrial landscapes brought to us by interplanetary conquest will affect our past, present and future monumentality and its memorialization. What will happen when our terrestrial fictions, cementing nations and identities, travel to outer space? 
In this episode, the artist shares his thoughts and motivations that inspired this impressive and meticulously executed sculpture. More
The conversation was held on September 20, 2024 as part of the exhibition:
Forms of the ShadowCurated by Sunjung Kim20.9. – 17.11.2024
With Nilbar Güreş; Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian; Kyungah Ham; Young In Hong; ikkibawiKrrr; Jane Jin Kaisen; Joon Kim; Lee Bul; Lee Kit; Mikael Levin; Minouk Lim; Moon Kyungwon & Jeon Joonho; Adrián Villar Rojas; Ramiro Wong; Haegue Yang; Tomoko Yoneda; Jin-me Yoon; Min Yoon
Adrián Villar Rojas (Rosario, AR, 1980. Lives and works nomadically) conceives long-term projects, collectively and collaboratively produced, that take the shape of large-scale and site-specific installations, both imposing and fragile. Within his research, which mixes sculpture, drawing, video, literature and performative traces, the artist explores the conditions of humanity at risk, on the verge of extinction or already extinct, tracing the multi-species boundaries of a post-anthropocene time folded in on itself, in which past, present and future converge. 
Bettina Spörr is a curator at the Secession and was instrumental in bringing the exhibition to fruition.
The Dorotheum is the exclusive sponsor of the Secession Podcast.
Programmed by the board of the Secession
Jingle: Hui Ye with an excerpt from Combat of dreams for string quartet and audio feed (2016, Christine Lavant Quartett) by Alexander J. EberhardAudio Editor: Paul MacheckExecutive Producer: Bettina Spörr

Artists: Forms of the Shadow – Lee Kit in conversation with Bettina Spoerr

This episode within the Forms of the Shadow podcast series is dedicated to Lee Kit and his site-specific installation In Broad Daylight (2024). For Lee, whose practice is rooted in painting, the space has become a canvas, and the creation of the work a process of editing the space and himself, similar to the editing of the videos on view. His installations often create an intimate, almost meditative atmosphere with a strong emotional impact. In this way, he succeeds in translating the essence of painting into new artistic forms, creating a fluid experience between image and space.
Forms of the Shadow
Curated by Sunjung Kim
20.9. – 17.11.2024
With Nilbar Güreş; Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian; Kyungah Ham; Young In Hong; ikkibawiKrrr; Jane Jin Kaisen; Joon Kim; Lee Bul; Lee Kit; Mikael Levin; Minouk Lim; Moon Kyungwon & Jeon Joonho; Adrián Villar Rojas; Ramiro Wong; Haegue Yang; Tomoko Yoneda; Jin-me Yoon; Min Yoon
Bettina Spörr is a curator at the Secession and was instrumental in bringing the exhibition to fruition.
The Dorotheum is the exclusive sponsor of the Secession Podcast.
Jingle: Hui Ye with an excerpt from Combat of dreams for string quartet and audio feed (2016, Christine Lavant Quartett) by Alexander J. Eberhard
Programmed by the board of the SecessionAudio Editor: Paul MacheckExecutive Producer: Bettina Spörr
 

Artists: Forms of the Shadow – Joon Kim im Gespräch mit Bettina Spörr

Aufbauend auf dem Gespräch mit der Gastkuratorin Sunjung Kim konzentriert sich diese Podcast-Reihe zu Forms of the Shadow auf die einzelnen Künstler*innen der Ausstellung und beleuchtet ihre Werke.
Diese Folge widmet sich dem Installations- und Soundkünstler Joon Kim, seiner Arbeitsweise mit field recordings und geht Fragen nach Komposition, Manipulation und Arrangements von Klängen nach. Am Ende des Gesprächs sind die drei Tonspuren der Installation in voller Länge zu hören.
In der Secession präsentiert er The Hidden Treasures (2024), ein Soundscape-Projekt, das eine Sammlung von Klängen und Bildern aus Dörfern in der Nähe der sogenannten Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) zusammenführt. Kim erfasst den „Klang“ des natürlichen Ökosystems, das durch die Teilung Koreas lange Zeit von Menschen beinahe unberührt erhalten geblieben ist. Auf diese Weise führt das Projekt das Publikum indirekt an unbekannte Orte, die es noch nicht erlebt hat. Joon Kim hat in Bielefeld, Kassel und an der Akademie der Künste in Berlin studiert, weshalb diese Folge auf Deutsch aufgezeichnet wurde.
Forms of the ShadowKuratiert von Sunjung Kim 20.9. – 17.11.2024
Mit Nilbar Güreş; Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian; Kyungah Ham; Young In Hong; ikkibawiKrrr; Jane Jin Kaisen; Joon Kim; Lee Bul; Lee Kit; Mikael Levin; Minouk Lim; Moon Kyungwon & Jeon Joonho; Adrián Villar Rojas; Ramiro Wong; Haegue Yang; Tomoko Yoneda; Jin-me Yoon; Min Yoon
Bettina Spörr ist Kuratorin an der Secession und war maßgeblich an der Umsetzung der Ausstellung beteiligt.
Das Dorotheum ist exklusiver Sponsor des Secession Podcasts.
Jingle: Hui Ye mit einem Ausschnitt aus Combat of dreams für Streichquartett und Zuspielung (2016, Christine Lavant Quartett) von Alexander J. Eberhard.
Programmiert vom Vorstand der SecessionSchnitt: Paul MacheckProduzentin: Bettina Spörr

Artists: Forms of the Shadow – Jane Jin Kaisen in conversation with Damian Lentini

Following a conversation with guest curator Sunjung Kim, this podcast series now focuses on the individual artists in the exhibition, alongside their works.
Recorded on 19 September 2024, this episode focuses on the filmic work of the Danish/Korean artist Jane Jin Kaisen and her operatic multichannel work Burial of this Order – on display in the Gallery of the Secession – as well as her wider practice. At the end of the discussion, four brief audio clips from the film will be played to engage the listener in the artist’s seductive and operatic world.
Forms of the ShadowCurated by Sunjung Kim20.9. – 17.11.2024
With Nilbar Güreş; Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian; Kyungah Ham; Young In Hong; ikkibawiKrrr; Jane Jin Kaisen; Joon Kim; Lee Bul; Lee Kit; Mikael Levin; Minouk Lim; Moon Kyungwon & Jeon Joonho; Adrián Villar Rojas; Ramiro Wong; Haegue Yang; Tomoko Yoneda; Jin-me Yoon; Min Yoon
Damian Lentini is a curator at the Vienna Secession. He obtained his doctoral degree in 2009 at the University of Melbourne and has realised major projects with artists such as El Anatsui, Phyllida Barlow, Kapwani Kiwanga, Sarah Sze, Sung Tieu, Raqs Media Collective, Harun Farocki, Dumb Type, Khvay Samnang, Lina Lapelytė and the Karrabing Film Collective amongst others.
 
The Dorotheum is the exclusive sponsor of the Secession Podcast.
Jingle: Hui Ye with an excerpt from Combat of dreams for string quartet and audio feed (2016, Christine Lavant Quartett) by Alexander J. Eberhard
Programmed by the board of the SecessionAudio Editor: Paul MacheckExecutive Producer: Bettina Spörr

Artists: Forms of the Shadow – Young In Hong in conversation with Bettina Spörr

Young In Hong is working across installation, sound, performance, textile and drawing. Her practice often focuses on undervalued cultural practices and seeks for a sense of equality that gently undermines ruling hierarchies. In recent years, Hong has increasingly examined notions of inter-species communication, symbolism and the hybridity of sound, movement and objects in the context of other-than-human voices. More
Young In Hong is one of 18 artists and artist groups featured in Forms of the Shadow, and one of four artists whose works are shown at the Secession and its partner, the Korean Cultural Centre in Vienna. In this episode, recorded on September 20, 2024, the artist discusses her installation Double Encounter (2009), on view at the Secession, as well as her new work White Cranes and Snowfall (2024), presented at the Korean Cultural Centre.
Further conversations with Jane Jin Kaisen, Joon Kim, Lee Kit, Minouk Lim, Adrián Villar Rojas, Ramiro Wong, Tomoko Yoneda, Jin-me Yoon, and Min Yoon were conducted and will be released in the coming weeks during the exhibition:
Forms of the Shadow
Curated by Sunjung Kim
20.9. – 17.11.2024
With Nilbar Güreş; Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian; Kyungah Ham; Young In Hong; ikkibawiKrrr; Jane Jin Kaisen; Joon Kim; Lee Bul; Lee Kit; Mikael Levin; Minouk Lim; Moon Kyungwon & Jeon Joonho; Adrián Villar Rojas; Ramiro Wong; Haegue Yang; Tomoko Yoneda; Jin-me Yoon; Min Yoon
 
Bettina Spörr is an in-house curator at the Secession, where she played a key role in bringing the exhibition Forms of the Shadow to fruition.
The Dorotheum is the exclusive sponsor of the Secession Podcast.
Jingle: Hui Ye with an excerpt from Combat of dreams for string quartet and audio feed (2016, Christine Lavant Quartett) by Alexander J. Eberhard
Programmed by the board of the Secession
Audio Editor: Paul Macheck
Executive Producer: Bettina Spörr

Artists: Forms of the Shadow - Sunjung Kim in conversation with Bettina Spörr

Forms of the Shadow is the first group exhibition at the Secession since 2018, continuing the loose series of guest-curated thematic shows held there at irregular intervals.
In this podcast, recorded on 20 September 2024, the day after the opening, Bettina Spörr speaks with Sunjung Kim about her REAL DMZ PROJECT and how Forms of the Shadow evolved from it. Their conversation also explores Sunjung Kim’s personal motivation to engage with the political division of North and South Korea, as well as her journey to becoming one of South Korea’s most influential curators.
This episode is the first in a series accompanying the exhibition, offering deeper insights into the artists and their work. Individual conversations with Kyungah Ham, Young In Hong, Jane Jin Kaisen, Joon Kim, Lee Kit, Minouk Lim, Adrián Villar Rojas, Ramiro Wong, Tomoko Yoneda, Jin-me Yoon, and Min Yoon were conducted and will be released in the coming weeks throughout the exhibition:
 
Forms of the Shadow
Curated by Sunjung Kim
20.9. – 17.11.2024
 
Forms of the Shadow casts light on contemporary shadows unveiled by the global pandemic, the climate crisis, and geopolitical tensions. Through this thematic lens, it invites viewers to reflect upon the interconnectedness of our world and the complexities of navigating through turbulent times. By shedding light on the ever-shifting nature of shadows and their metaphorical significance in witnessing the passage of time, the exhibition prompts reflection on the intricate layers of human existence. More
Sunjung Kim is currently the artistic director of Art Sonje Center in Seoul (2022–), the chair of ICOM Republic of Korea (2023–), and a board member of ICOM ASPAC (International Council of Museums Asia-Pacific Alliance). She was the president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation (2017–2021), director of Art Sonje Center (2016–2017), the artistic director of ACC Archive & Research at the Asia Art Culture Center (2014–2015), and chief curator and deputy director (1993–2004) of Art Sonje Center. Additionally, she is the founder and artistic director of the REAL DMZ PROJECT, an art and research project designed to cross the boundaries of the museum and launched in 2011 to explore the (in)visible borders of the Demilitarized Zone through the critical lens of art and to raise awareness about the division of Korea.
Bettina Spörr is a curator at the Secession (2008-present), where she engages in close collaboration with artists to conceptualize and realize exhibitions. Throughout her career, she has worked with numerous artists on solo exhibitions and, in 2010, curated where do we go from here?, another edition of Secession’s Young Scene, presenting around 30 artists from Austria and Central Eastern Europe. She worked at the Generali Foundation (2002-2008) and spent a year in Singapore (2001-2002), where she worked in a contemporary art gallery.
 
The Dorotheum is the exclusive sponsor of the Secession Podcast.
 
Jingle: Hui Ye with an excerpt from Combat of dreams for string quartet and audio feed (2016, Christine Lavant Quartett) by Alexander J. Eberhard
Programmed by the board of the Secession
Audio Editor: Paul Macheck
Executive Producer: Bettina Spörr

Artists: Katrin Hornek, Karin Pauer, Sabina Holzer, Zosia Hołubowska, and Jeanette Pacher in conversation

Katrin Hornek, Karin Pauer, Sabina Holzer, Zosia Hołubowska, and Jeanette Pacher in conversation
testing grounds is an immersive live installation conceived by Katrin Hornek and developed in a collaborative process involving artists as well as researchers and scientists from different fields. It addresses the measurable evidence and effects of radioactive fallout dispersed around the world as a result of heavy testing of nuclear weapons, especially during the Cold War era.
Listen to the artist Katrin Hornek, choreographer Karin Pauer, writer and dancer Sabina Holzer, sound artist Zosia Hołubowska, and the curator Jeanette Pacher talk about the project and its coming about from their respective perspectives, but also what it means to work collaboratively so closely. The conversation was recorded on May 13, 2024 in the context of the exhibition.
Katrin Hornek
testing grounds
In collaboration with Karin Pauer, Sabina Holzer, and Zosia Hołubowska
8.3. – 2.6.2024
With her artistic oeuvre and curatorial practice, Katrin Hornek playfully engages with the strange paradoxes of living in the age of the Anthropocene, that is, the new geologic epoch where the effects of capitalism, colonialism, and extractivism are written into the body of the earth. She asserts a more complex understanding of the entwinement of so-called nature and culture that recognizes that our bodies and cultures are substantially and spiritually connected with other creatures and the elements that make up our world. As an artistic strategy, Hornek follows the stories and traces of the material world into their countless networks to create narratives. More
Katrin Hornek (*1983, Austria) studied performative art and sculpture in Vienna and Copenhagen. She is a member of the Anthropocene Commons network and teaches at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (Department of Site-Specific Art). Recent exhibitions at Ar/Ge Kunst, Bolzano (2022), Kunstraum Lakeside, Klagenfurt (2021), Riga Biennale (2020), Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2019). Awarded the Msgr. Otto Mauer Prize (2021). www.katrinhornek.net
Karin Pauer (*1983, Austria) is a performer and choreographer. The exploration of relations, in-betweens, empathy, and togetherness informs all her works. She negotiates these notions combining embodied choreographic practices with language, visual arts, and live music. Her works have been shown in various Viennese institutions as well as at local and international festivals. www.karinpauer.com
Sabina Holzer (*1966, Austria) works as a dancer, choreographer and author in the field of extended choreography. She is concerned with practices of community, ecology, philosophy, materiality, science fiction and poetry. Her collaborative performances, interventions and texts are shown and published locally and internationally. www.cattravelsnotalone.at
Zosia Hołubowska (1988, Poland) is a sound artist, queer music activist, researcher, and producer. With performances, sound installations, radio works and soundscapes, they work on topics of queering archives, healing practices, and interspecies intimacy.
 
Performance: Martina De Dominicis, Cat Jimenez, Mani Obeya, Karin Pauer
The Dorotheum is the exclusive sponsor of the Secession Podcast.
 
Jingle: Hui Ye with an excerpt from Combat of dreams for string quartet and audio feed (2016, Christine Lavant Quartett) by Alexander J. Eberhard
Editing Director: Katrin Hornek
Editor: Paul Macheck
Programmed by the board of the Secession
Produced by Jeanette Pacher

Members: Rosa Hausleithner und Sophie Thun

Rosa Hausleithner erzählt im Gespräch mit Sophie Thun von ihren Anfängen als Künstlerin, ihrer Zeit an der Akademie in der Bildhauerklasse von Bruno Gironcoli und wie sich ihre Arbeiten von ortspezifischen, skulptural-architektonischen Interventionen zu gemalten Raumkompositionen entwickelt haben. Diese Folge wurde am 7. Juni 2024 im Podcast-Studio der Secession aufgenommen.
Rosa Hausleithners polychrome Bildräume formieren sich primär in ihren Gedanken. Als kleine, skizzenhafte Linienzeichnungen werden sie mit Blei- und Farbstiften auf Papier fixiert, um dann in Acryl auf Leinwand ausformuliert zu werden. Von der Bildhauerei kommend, baut die 1952 in Wien geborene Künstlerin mit ihren Gemälden fiktionale Farbräume, die sich den perspektivischen Regeln gezielt widersetzen. „Die Farbgebung, einmal opak, oftmals luzid, verstärkt und / oder verführt den Blick des Betrachtens, bis hin zur Imagination eines Kippeffekts. Dadurch entstehen im Zusammenspiel der verschiedenen Bildbausteine immer wieder neu definierte Standpunkte.“ (Rosa Hausleithner über ihre Arbeit anlässlich der Verleihung des 2020 von der Secession vergebenen Gmoser Preises).
Rosa Hausleithner absolvierte 1984 ihr Bildhauereistudium bei Bruno Gironcoli an der Akademie der bildenden Künste in Wien und stellte u. a. in der Neuen Galerie Graz, im Künstlerhaus Salzburg, in der Secession, der Kunsthalle Krems und im Museum auf Abruf in Wien aus. Sie war im Vorstand der IG Bildende Kunst tätig und Beiratsmitglied des Kulturrat Österreich. Seit ist sie 1987 Mitglied der Secession.
Sophie Thun (*1985, lebt und arbeitet in Wien) arbeitet vor allem mit Techniken der analogen Fotografie, ihren Räumen, Prozessen sowie Produktions- und Ausstellungsbedingungen. Aufgewachsen in Warschau, absolvierte Thun ihr Masterstudium an den Akademien der bildenden Künste in Wien und in Krakau. Thun ist seit 2021 im Vorstand der Secession, wo sie 2020 eine Einzelausstellung hatte; von 2023 bis 2025 ist sie Interims-Professorin der Klasse für Fotografie an der Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.
 
Secession Podcast: Artists ist eine Gesprächsreihe mit Mitgliedern der Secession.
Das Dorotheum ist exklusiver Sponsor des Secession Podcasts.
 
Jingle: Hui Ye mit einem Ausschnitt aus Combat of dreams für Streichquartett und Zuspielung (2016, Christine Lavant Quartett) von Alexander J. Eberhard.
Schnitt: Paul Macheck
Produktion: Bettina Spörr, Jeanette Pacher
Programmiert vom Vorstand der Secession

Artists: Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo in conversation with Bettina Spoerr

The black dome of the Secession attracted everyone's attention in June 2024. The work, entitled Statement, was a highly visible symbol of the dignity of black women. It was part of the exhibition Achievement by Cuban artist Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo, whose work articulates feminist, anti-racist and anti-colonial counter-visions, highlighting the achievements of black women and advocating a form of healing. In this conversation with Bettina Spoerr, recorded on 21 June 2024, the artist talks about how she fell in love with the golden dome of the Secession and was inspired to activate the architecture.
 
Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo
Achievement
21.6. – 8.9.2024
 
The reinvention of memory and the critical engagement with archives are central to Delahante Matienzo’s research and a strategy that lets her recover the identities and legacies of people who were denied the right to record their own histories. As a Cuban-born artist with African and Chinese roots, she knows from her own family’s experience that, for the longest time, oral traditions were the only available sources on which to draw for one’s lineage and heritage. In Achievement, she presents a fictional and speculative archive that features Black women as prominent, affluent, and esteemed members of society and as hardworking and self-determined businesswomen. In so doing, she not only undertakes a critique of history, she also takes a vital step toward a more nuanced consideration—ultimately, a reprogramming—of beliefs that have seemed impossible to dislodge. Defying the colonial gaze, the artist charts assertive alternative representations.
More
 
Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo, born 1984 in Havana, Cuba, has lived and worked in the Netherlands since 2021. She describes her work across photography, video, and performance as a preoccupation with creating “symbolic solutions and personal responses” to the history of violence against women. She sees her body as an archive of the forced displacement of people from Africa and Asia to Cuba. Her critical works take a personal perspective as a starting point. Resistance, struggle, family archive, mothers, Black women, Negritude - these are the themes along which the artist’s profound work unfolds.
 
Collaborating in close dialogue with artists to conceive and realise exhibitions together, and reflecting on the impact contemporary art can have on our society are key to Bettina Spörr’s practice as a curator and writer. Recent collaborations include Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo and her spectacular intervention on the Secession’s golden dome (2024), or the Secession exhibition of Delaine Le Bas (2023) for which the artist has been nominated for the 2024 Turner Prize.
 
Secession Podcast: Artists features artists exhibiting at the Secession.
Programmed by the board of the Secession
The Dorotheum is the exclusive sponsor of the Secession Podcast.
 
Jingle: Hui Ye with an excerpt from Combat of dreams for string quartet and audio feed (2016, Christine Lavant Quartett) by Alexander J. Eberhard
Editor: Paul Macheck
Production: Bettina Spörr