Artist Young Kim, Suitman
Korean-American artist Young Kim recently opened an exhibition titled “Suitman: The Hong Kong Invasion,” showcasing an eclectic collection of traveling journal images and artwork. He talks to Sheena Liang about his alter-ego.
HK Magazine: Why do you call yourself the Suitman?
Young Kim: When I started the project 14 years ago, it didn’t have a name. It was just a travel photo journal I kept. “The Suitman” began as a joke. It’s so straight up, so generic, I love it! Actually, there’s a chain of cheap suit stores in Japan called The Suitman.
HK: How did the Suitman project come about?
YK: I traveled the world for three months and I had packed everything up, but I had forgotten my suit. So I had this brown paper bag with some clean underwear, socks, a toothbrush and my suit. I spent three months with this suit.
HK: What makes the perfect suit?
YK: I started making my own suits a long time a go. I prefer the classic English style so I kept the suit black outside but started putting in hidden pockets and different linings. Let’s see, I did purple, sky blue, yellow, even day-glo orange.
HK: Tell us about an extraordinary traveling experience.
YK: Coming from New York, I have that “seen that, done that, yeah whatever” attitude. But in Tibet, gasping for oxygen, head pounding, I thought I was going to die from altitude sickness. Seeing the local people in nothing but tattered clothes... These people devote their whole life to their religion. They go on a pilgrimage from their home to the main temple in Lhasa, some die along the way. Surrounded by that, I look at myself and it’s like, “Shit! I’m kinda leading a shallow life.” It’s a real dose of reality.
HK: What’s next for the Suitman?
YK: It’s my lifetime mission to invade the world. But I can’t tell you where I’m going next. It’s a secret plan.
HK: Do you sleep in your suit?
YK: Sometimes...