Fishtank Company, 2022. Installation with fishtank from the fishmarket in Seoul, common water, neon light, oxygen pumps, abalone shells from Jeju Island and one turban shell. Shown during All Together Now group exhibition at Seoul Museum of Art Nanji Exhibition Hall. November 2022

During October I have been frequently visiting fish markets in Seoul, firstly fascinated by the big fishing industry that develops and continues growing in this country. Mostly I've been walking through Noryangjin, Garak and Mapo-Gu markets. Here, fish is sold alive, which guarantees its freshness. For this porpose, visitors can find advanced aquarium engineering and water circuits. As I'm interested in this exclusively Korean design, my proposaI for the exhibition All Together Now is to temporary remove one fishtank out of the market to place it in the exhibition space.

Fishtank Company is a site-specific installation. This aquarium contains light and oxygen pumps. I also placed inside a series of abalone shells, which I collected during my various trips to Jeju Island. These shells glisten, they reflect the light. Jeju women divers use them precisely as markers on the seabed when they have seen a fishing prey but they lack oxygen. In this case, they swim to the surface, recover with airbreath and submerge again. They look around the shiny shell that functions as a light. Fishtank Company unifies both research projects that I am carrying out in Korea: On the one hand, I am interested in the strong capitalist fishery industry and, on the other hand, I show as the opposite these last gestures of Haenyeo women, that still maintain a ritualistic and environmentally sustainable fishing methods.