Miru Kim has been a source of inspiration for those who want to face their fear. They say fears are false, if hopes can cheat us. But the fact is: fears are not false & hopes do cheat us even when we are not over-confident.
Well I mentioned Kim in one of my posts on Veena Malik. Kim has gained popularity for stripping off and photographing herself naked in strange places such as abandoned factories, tunnels and bridges. She’s not just an artist, but also an illustrator, photographer & arts events coordinator. She has been regarded as a provocative artist but she’s definitely following this unique philosophy of fighting fear & it has shown remarkable results over the years. We all have these deep imbedded fears such fear of darkness, fear of dangerous activities etc as kids. Some overcome them & some don’t. Kim came up with this idea to face her childhood fears.
By the way, she’s the female artist who was living naked with pigs for 104 hours. She ate & slept with 2 pigs for 4 days. She was inspired to create I Like Pigs And Pigs Like Me after reading French philosopher. According to Kim, ‘When I mingle with pigs, I feel my existence more than ever.'
You may think shedding clothes is an easy thing but living with pigs was not easy for Kim.
"I got many bruises from bites," she said. "Pigs do bite and very hard, mind you. They could have shredded me to pieces in seconds if they wanted to. They were being very curious and gentle with me overall, probably because they didn't understand why I was naked with them. They probably thought, 'She looks like us, but not quite!' But even the 'curious nibbles' got me bad bruises.”
Kim wasn’t comfortable when she started disrobing for art in 2004 but now it’s not as difficult as it used to be.
"Now I'm used to it, but when I first tried to be nude in front of camera in 2004 I was very nervous," she said. "I remember, in order to get used to being nude for my project's sake, I modeled for a nude portrait for a painter in Berlin, who was my studio mate at the time, and I got so nervous I couldn't stand still. This was a mortifying and humiliating experience at the time. I had to force myself because I had decided on a project using myself naked in photographs. At first, it was for sheer practicality that I was doing it myself, but the performance aspect became increasingly important. As I got used to being naked in urban ruins, I felt these spaces transform from dangerous to peaceful, from stranger to familiar."
If you will go through her pictures & videos with an open mind, you would realize this is really art. It is. At first even I couldn’t digest the idea cause we are so used to making fun of such stuff & yes if I have to watch all of it with my sister & friends, I know I would react & comment in a very different way but that happens with almost everyone. Some of the pics are of course hilarious but what she does is dangerous. Walking stark naked in such spooky places requires a lot of courage.
Anyhow, this woman has been able to face her fears, which is commendable. Many of us never even get to fight the demons that torture us. Shedding your clothes may seem crazy but if you could get rid of the word fear out of your life, it’s certainly paradise on earth. Sometimes it’s not actually what you do, but it’s the final result that matters. But I still believe running naked in the jungle would not solve problems of many & you can’t actually conquer your fears by shedding clothes & visiting strange places. Anyway, there’s no harm in trying if you want some excitement & thrill.
Well I mentioned Kim in one of my posts on Veena Malik. Kim has gained popularity for stripping off and photographing herself naked in strange places such as abandoned factories, tunnels and bridges. She’s not just an artist, but also an illustrator, photographer & arts events coordinator. She has been regarded as a provocative artist but she’s definitely following this unique philosophy of fighting fear & it has shown remarkable results over the years. We all have these deep imbedded fears such fear of darkness, fear of dangerous activities etc as kids. Some overcome them & some don’t. Kim came up with this idea to face her childhood fears.
By the way, she’s the female artist who was living naked with pigs for 104 hours. She ate & slept with 2 pigs for 4 days. She was inspired to create I Like Pigs And Pigs Like Me after reading French philosopher. According to Kim, ‘When I mingle with pigs, I feel my existence more than ever.'
You may think shedding clothes is an easy thing but living with pigs was not easy for Kim.
"I got many bruises from bites," she said. "Pigs do bite and very hard, mind you. They could have shredded me to pieces in seconds if they wanted to. They were being very curious and gentle with me overall, probably because they didn't understand why I was naked with them. They probably thought, 'She looks like us, but not quite!' But even the 'curious nibbles' got me bad bruises.”
Kim wasn’t comfortable when she started disrobing for art in 2004 but now it’s not as difficult as it used to be.
"Now I'm used to it, but when I first tried to be nude in front of camera in 2004 I was very nervous," she said. "I remember, in order to get used to being nude for my project's sake, I modeled for a nude portrait for a painter in Berlin, who was my studio mate at the time, and I got so nervous I couldn't stand still. This was a mortifying and humiliating experience at the time. I had to force myself because I had decided on a project using myself naked in photographs. At first, it was for sheer practicality that I was doing it myself, but the performance aspect became increasingly important. As I got used to being naked in urban ruins, I felt these spaces transform from dangerous to peaceful, from stranger to familiar."
If you will go through her pictures & videos with an open mind, you would realize this is really art. It is. At first even I couldn’t digest the idea cause we are so used to making fun of such stuff & yes if I have to watch all of it with my sister & friends, I know I would react & comment in a very different way but that happens with almost everyone. Some of the pics are of course hilarious but what she does is dangerous. Walking stark naked in such spooky places requires a lot of courage.
Anyhow, this woman has been able to face her fears, which is commendable. Many of us never even get to fight the demons that torture us. Shedding your clothes may seem crazy but if you could get rid of the word fear out of your life, it’s certainly paradise on earth. Sometimes it’s not actually what you do, but it’s the final result that matters. But I still believe running naked in the jungle would not solve problems of many & you can’t actually conquer your fears by shedding clothes & visiting strange places. Anyway, there’s no harm in trying if you want some excitement & thrill.
