A Rock That Was Taught It Was a Bird

2010

Kim Beom 김범

(Korean, b. 1963)

View all records in artwork set

Culture

Korea

Medium

wood

Measurements

Overall: 146.8 x 220.5 x 127.7 cm (57 13/16 x 86 13/16 x 50 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Louis D. Kacalieff, M.D. Fund 2010.263.b

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

A Rock That Was Taught It Was a Bird rejects the separation between the animate and the inanimate prescribed by modern-day rationalism.

Description

The man in the video repeats “You are a bird!” to a rock, while a sculptural assemblage to the left features a rock posed like a bird on a bough. A Rock That Was Taught It Was a Bird is one of Kim Beom’s satirical artworks. It comments on authoritarian regimes—South Korea during the 1970s and 1980s—where education was frequently used as a tool to influence people’s view of the world and themselves.

Kim is a Seoul-based artist whose mixed-media works are internationally well known. His art explores the intersection of various artistic genres and media, including poetry, drawing, video, painting, and installation. In this work, Kim uses a touch of humor to turn unrelated objects into one minimalistic sculpture packed with strong social critiques.