More than a hundred thousand times
Alexander Ugay
NIKA Project Space, Dubai | Paris
- Title
- More than a hundred thousand times
- Gallery
- NIKA Project Space, Dubai | Paris
- Year
- 2020
- Duration
- 35 min 48 s
- Format & Technical
HD Video
- Alexander Ugay. More hundred thousand times, video. 2019-20. Courtesy of the artist
Alexander Ugay made this video while working in a factory in Korea—a new and challenging experience for him. This practice enabled him to feel both the alienation and moments of understanding and mastery that come through repetition. In such instances of complete physical and emotional immersion, a person’s consciousness can wander far beyond the confines of the factory. It presents a paradoxical situation of meaninglessness on the one hand and heightened awareness on the other. It feels very much like standing on the edge of an existential abyss, beyond which there is either nothing—or freedom. In the video, migrant workers from post-Soviet countries demonstrate the motions of their work process. Their memorized movements, displaced from the factory setting, evoke the impact of labor on the life and imagination of the Koryoin* community.
Stills
Alexander Ugay es un fotógrafo y videoartista kazajo-coreano, así como creador de “objetos de cine”. Proviene de una familia coreana deportada a Asia Central durante la década de 1930. A través de su trabajo, Ugay explora cuestiones relacionadas con la memoria y la nostalgia, centrándose en examinar la interacción de la historia con el presente y el futuro mediante la fotografía y, más recientemente, la instalación. Su representación simultánea del pasado y el presente se refleja a través de su cámara de filmación de 8-16 mm, fabricada durante la era soviética, combinada con un dispositivo de grabación digital moderno. Ugay ha presentado su trabajo en la Bienal de Arte Contemporáneo de Busan (2022), Sapar Contemporary en Nueva York (2019), Lunds Konsthall en Suecia (2018), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art en Moscú (2016), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Estrasburgo (2014), Bienal de Arquitectura de Venecia (2010), Centre Pompidou en París (2010) y el Pabellón de Asia Central en la 52ª Bienal de Venecia (2007), entre otras bienales y proyectos internacionales.
Related galleries
NIKA Project Space
- Address
- Al Khayat Avenue, Unit 11 19th Street Road, Al Quoz 1 First Al Khail Street, 00000, Dubai | Paris, Emiratos Árabes Unidos
- Phone
- +971 58 550 8052
- contact@nika-projects.com
- Website
- www.nika-projects.com
NIKA Project Space serves as a platform for artistic discourse and experimentation and champions the work of female artists and curators. In addition to exhibitions which focus on conceptualization, abstraction, and philosophical inquiry, NIKA Project Space offers a critically engaged programme that emphasizes contemporaneity and dialogue through talks, performances, and educational initiatives. The gallery also hosts a research programme, inviting artists to create impactful new works that implement research-based and experimental creative processes, ultimately facilitating the exploration and portrayal of nuanced societal experiences and historical narratives.
In 2024, NIKA Project Space inaugurated a European location in the Komunuma art district in Romainville, on the outskirts of Paris. In Dubai, the gallery is located in Al Khayat Avenue, Al Quoz.