The Spell of Monsters by Camilla Alberti, co-curated by me and MOKA - Hyundai Museum of Kids Books & Art, is an artistic-pedagogical project that integrated traditional Korean Dokkaebi mythology into the discussion on the environmental crisis.
By using traditional myths and legends, it is possible to create an emotional and spiritual connection with environmental issues, making them more relevant and urgent for the community. In this way, the culture of the Dokkaebi not only preserves Korea’s spiritual and cultural heritage but also becomes a means to address and solve the environmental challenges of the present.
In Camilla Alberti’s research, the symbolic device of the monstrous undergoes a complete transformation. In the complex web of relationships that weave the world, the artist’s monsters embody necessary subjects, protagonists of diverse narratives that tend toward hybrid mythologies rooted in the world and far from anthropomorphism. The ultimate enemy to be relegated to the margins of civilization, the monster becomes an example of coexistence between different species and a model of adaptability to survive extreme conditions, like those to which we have reduced our planet. The sculptural bodies of the monsters incorporate natural and anthropogenic waste elements scattered throughout our daily lives. Organisms whose profiles we must trace by reflecting on the symbolic potential they can offer us in support of the climate challenge.
Verbalizing and formalizing fear into a precise shape borrowed from imagination is a fundamental educational process to strengthen the relationship between the Self and the Other. A fundamental phrase of Taoist religion says su-sim yongsheng, “correct the mind, reform the nature,” because only the conscious thought allows us to revolutionize our being and acting in the world. After all, fairy tales are nothing more than a miniature image of the world, and in light of the ecological crisis, we are called to invent new stories to survive on an infected planet.
ARTIST: Camilla Alberti