Access a slow-looking exercise related to this work.

Transcript
Marilee Talkington: In Kim Kulim’s "The Meaning of 1/24 Second", a series of short video clips are collaged together to create this 9-minute silent color video from 1969. None of the clips remain on-screen for more than a few seconds—most for less than a second—creating a dizzying succession of imagery intended to evoke the dramatic acceleration of urban growth in postwar Korea.

The video opens with a blue screen and white, red, and black credits in both English and Korean with the artist’s name, the date, and the title of the piece. It then quickly jumps into the montage of short clips, edited and collaged without transitions between them. The video has a low-resolution quality, having been transferred from 16mm film, with grainy spots and scratches popping across the screen.

The first clip is shot from a moving vehicle and focuses on the white guardrail of an elevated expressway, immediately introducing the viewer to the feeling of rapid transition and movement. The series of clips that quickly follow include city landmarks, construction, mass transit, crowds of people, consumer goods, and other symbols of industrialization.

Kim interrupts this montage of scenes with various clips of artists lounging, smoking, and exaggeratedly yawning. The contrasting imagery represents their refusal to assimilate to the fast-paced speed of urban development.

The final two clips are first, close-up shots of effervescent lights, like sparks shooting from a firecracker; and second, swirling smoke, like a flame just extinguished. Another blue screen with credits in black Korean text arranged in a column displays on the final clip.

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