Kim Hee-won Someone's Chandelier 01, 2013. 4K video: Duration 7:50:16 hours. This work is Artist Proof 1 from the sold-out edition of six plus one artist proof.
We commence with darkness. A hand holding a lit match enters the frame and slowly lights the candles one by one. For over seven hours the candles of the two-tiered chandelier burn until each one has burned out, returning to darkness. Kim Heewon's Someone's Chandelier 01 is a stunning video work that represents its subject in actual scale and in real time. The hypnotic piece—featured as the final lot in our inaugural ULTIMATE Evening Sale in London—induces a feeling of tranquillity in the viewer as the candles gently burn and the light fades.
Opening segment of Someone's Chandelier 01, courtesy of the artist
While living in Paris in the early days of his practice, Kim Heewon deliberately turned off his electricity, choosing to live by candlelight. Fascinated by the flickering light and how it made him feel, he embarked on this ongoing series that began with candles before evolving into chandeliers — representing a larger light source and a symbol of luxury in a bygone era. His use of the latest technologies to evoke certain emotions associated with the past enabled him "to connect the past to the present both in function and communication."
This work is the first chandelier video in the series. The chandelier, as seen in the video, was sourced by a European antique collector in Korea and the filmed over more than three days:
The average burning time for a candle is seven hours, but there are so many variables — the wax may melt in the wrong way, distorting the visibility, for example, or some candles may burn faster or longer than others — that it takes an extensive amount of additional time adjusting and re-filming.
Stills from Someone's Chandelier 01
Kim Heewon is a multimedia artist whose creative output spans multiple fields, including photography, video and design. In 2012 he collaborated with New York's Moss, the legendary design mecca, for the Venice Architecture Biennale, and his work has been exhibited at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea.
His work resides in various collections, including Rossana Orlandi Collection, Italy and National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea.