Beings Swimming Backstroke towards the Waterfall

Woo Minjung, Following Flowers, 2021, mixed material on jute, ocher, clay, 120×160cm.; Woo Minjung, If All of These Do Not Match Each Other, as Everyone Points with a Finger, 2021, mixed material on jute, ocher, clay, 120×160cm.

Dec 23, 2023 - January 4, 2024
PS333 (Seoul)

Artists: Zheng Bo, Leesop Cho, Tang Han, Park Wunggyu, TJ Shin, Woo Minjung
Curated by Eunha Chang, Maria Markiewicz, Shi Sun
Supported by Arts Council Korea

Backstroke (or back crawl), next to butterfly, is one of the most difficult swimming strokes to master. In their initial positions, the swimmers performing the backstroke lie flat on their backs, supported by the body of water. Legs extended backwards. Arms and fingertips stretched in the forward movement. Direction? Unknown. Beings Swimming Backstroke Towards the Waterfall cannot see where they are going. They are unaware of the upcoming dangers that lie ahead of them; unaware of the waterfall that they are heading towards. But what if we see this waterfall not as an upcoming catastrophe but as a hopeful rupture? As an alternative, non-linear temporality meant to challenge the heteronormative, anthropocentric view of history? Here, the back crawl represents an intentional refusal of the past to arrive at a new, queer future – the swimmers look away from the expectations and limitations employed by the past and turn towards a bright, blue sky. What will they see there?

Zheng Bo, Pteridophilia 4, 2019, 4K video, color, sound, 16 min 35 sec. Courtesy of the artist. Image still courtesy of the artist and Kiang Malingue