In Search of Petra Genetrix
Ayoung Kim
Performance //
It is a widespread belief in Mongolia that rocks and minerals are alive, like any other natural element. Mythical stories tell how human beings were born from rocks. Where does this belief come from, and why has it prevailed for so long?
In her performance In Search of Petra Genetrix Ayoung Kim creates her own version of the story: a mythology connected to the fictional character of Petra Genetrix – the protagonist of her video series Porosity Valley. Through the notion of ‘Petrogenesis’ – genesis from rocks – Ayoung Kim wanders through the Earth’s strata. She shows us footage she recorded in Mongolia and Iran interviewing an historian, a geologist, a geology museum director, and local inhabitants. Next to the interview fragments, Ayoung Kim embodies different entities by transforming her own voice.