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(un)realised projects

2024

​​A discourse on cities and public art

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Opening on December 4 at CICA Museum, (un)realised projects presents yeonsu lim’s exploration of the boundaries between realization and impossibility in public art. Rather than simply listing unfinished works, the exhibition critically examines how artistic interventions reveal and reshape the structures and self-image of cities.

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At the center is the barcelona project, initiated during lim’s 2023 research residency. Re-examining christo’s unrealised proposal to wrap the columbus monument, lim proposed an alternative intervention to wrap the scale model of the world’s first submarine at the museu marítim de barcelona. The project was ultimately deferred due to restoration work. Through this process, she engaged with multiple institutions, developing preparatory sketches and proposals that prompted a reflection on how cities negotiate large-scale artistic interventions. Whereas Paris and Berlin have historically pursued large-scale artistic interventions with boldness, Barcelona has approached them with a more reflective and careful stance. This difference does not signal limitation but highlights the city’s distinct cultural sensibility, offering valuable insight into how public art is shaped by diverse contexts and policy orientations.

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While centered on Barcelona, lim has also presented site-specific interventions in cities such as Los Angeles and Malta, situating this project within a broader inquiry into the conditions of public art.

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Further unrealised proposals for cities like Bern and London (2024– ) remain suspended gestures awaiting their urban interlocutors.

(un)realised projects thus moves beyond questions of realization, functioning as a discursive and critical inquiry into the role of public art within urban environments.

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