Kira Kim has explored the social and cultural position of the individual within capitalist society and individuals’ desires, which are often contrary to their external conditions. Security Garden as Paranoia 2023 has been presented in different versions, and this time, the installation temporarily appropriates the lobby of the Gwangju National Museum. The museum’s representative collection of Asian ceramics and their history provide the main context for this artwork. Security Garden as Paranoia, consisting of a random collection of porcelains, bonsais, security cameras, sculptures, masks, frames, speakers, small monitors, and lighting, is a compilation of things purchased and collected by the artist. Such an assemblage of objects mimic the conventions of collecting, categorising, defining, and conceptualising both historical and everyday items. It also points to the Western centred way of representing the so-called ‘Oriental’ through a selection of artefacts that blur the boundaries between original and replica, fiction and reality, and historical records and myth. The work’s reference to a paranoic mode of collecting and exhibiting objects also illuminates the issue of cultural essentialisation born out of colonial legacies. The publication that accompanies the installation poses questions about writing history from diverse perspectives.

A security garden as paranoia – Blind and Elephant