Zoyeon’s virtual solo exhibition Memo & Jukebox is a reproduction of a digital publication produced in the form of a scrapbook-music box in a virtual ad/ad space*.
Text, images, and music (or noise) are elements of a scene, and in online exhibition platform Artstep is planning a tour of the exhibition hall in a clockwise direction from outside to inside.
It is a list of long-term tastes, popular culture, and fragmentary image combinations that a person has spent a long time on.
Q1.
What kind of connection do the chosen visuals and music have for you?
A1.
If I were to measure the hierarchy of connections among the elements,
it would be text > music > images. Within each scene, the text, music, and images—though they may appear disparate—cannot be separated in thought.
All of the music presented is familiar to me; most are pieces I have lived with for many years. They range from 1990s–2000s English-language pop, to Japanese DJs’ electronic music, to more recent K-pop. Some tracks I have listened to almost daily for over a decade, to the point where I sometimes wonder if they have shaped fragments of my thoughts, aspects of my personality, or even my emotions.
By contrast, the images here are far more superficial in their connection to me. Many were saved in moments of impulse—“beautiful,” “funny,” “cool”—through a quick download, snapshot, or screenshot. Some were even found through brief searches to match music or text I had already chosen. As a result, each scene feels aurally intimate yet visually more objective.
Q2.
How would you describe your connection to the theme Horror Vacui?
A2.
In a traditional solo exhibition, one might hang a single work on each wall, or place two sculptures and a single video across the space. Here, I filled the environment with a dense layering of visual and auditory elements—an act that both expresses and overcomes a fear of emptiness. It is perhaps like an introvert meeting a stranger and speaking endlessly; an expression of anxiety that does not necessarily appear as such on the surface.
Q3.
Some of the situations you describe sometimes seem like collages of small everyday moments to me — is that correct?
A3.
It would be more precise to call them “fantastical everyday situations.” The work began with text, and if one reads these as stage directions,
each could become the premise for a small, unexpectedly developed play. To describe them as collages of everyday life would also be an apt way of capturing this exhibition.
Q4.
Why did youdesign the space to be so open?
A4.
On Artsteps, the loading sequence reveals the entire space in a sweeping, camera-like view— much like a Jimmy Jib shot—before transitioning
to the configured exhibition environment.
Within this space, I arranged specific points in sequence so that, when played, the platform guides visitors scene by scene, with functions like a tape player— play, rewind, fast-forward.
Because this work follows a deliberate order, it became a way of “reading” each page of the exhibition directly to the audience. Rather than letting visitors casually flip through my scrapbook of texts and music, I chose to walk them through it, holding them at each page. Using the “tour” function, I planned a long route and decided to incorporate outdoor areas—spaces rarely used in a physical exhibition but entirely possible here, in a virtual setting, and which still exist in reality.
I wanted each scene to hold viewers for a certain amount of time. The interior space alone felt insufficient to accommodate all the elements; even with the theme of Horror Vacui, my aim was not to press every piece together without space for breathing, but to create an environment where scenes could stand apart and certain images could be given the scale they required. And even though it is virtual, I found a certain pleasure in the feeling of taking a walk beneath a clear sky before stepping indoors.
Q5.
Would you like to say something about the quote: “mixed metaphors are strong. suggestive metaphors are stronger” ?
A5.
I placed this statement so that it appears toward the end of the exhibition route. After encountering a multitude of mixed images and suggestive texts, I wanted visitors to leave with this line as a lasting impression—something they might carry with them when recalling the exhibition.