In her U.S. solo debut at MoMA PS1, South Korean artist Ayoung Kim presents *Delivery Dancer Codex*, a work that interrogates the nature of the self within the friction-free logic of modern logistics. Kim’s practice has long been an exercise in speculative fiction rooted in the hard data of geopolitical history. By weaving together media analysis and historical transport networks, she creates a narrative space where the digital age’s obsessive reliance on technology mirrors the ancient myth of Narcissus—seduced and deceived by a reflection that is increasingly algorithmic.
Kim’s earlier projects established this fascination with the movement of information and capital across borders. In *PH Express*, she mapped the circulation of telegrams and the patrol missions of 19th-century European warships in East Asia. Later, in *Please Return to Busan Port*, she examined the cultural economy of horse racing through the lens of media reports. These works serve as a foundation for her more recent explorations of alternative infrastructures, such as a fictional transcontinental railway connecting Busan to Eurasia, bypassing contemporary political borders through a reimagined historical continuity.
In *Delivery Dancer Codex*, this interest in transit evolves into an investigation of the gig economy and digital presence. The work suggests that our current technological state does not merely facilitate movement; it fundamentally alters our perception of identity. As Kim’s "dancers" navigate the optimized routes of a delivery-driven world, they reflect a society caught between the efficiency of the network and the isolation of the screen. It is a study of how we fall in love with our own digital shadows within the very systems designed to keep us moving.
With reporting from MUBI Notebook.
Source · MUBI Notebook
