Once considered the aircraft of the future, gas inflated zeppelins lost their appeal when the Hindenberg went up in flames in 1937. Lee Bul’s huge zeppelin-like cylinder titled ‘Willing to Be Vulnerable – Metalized Balloon’ at Hauser and Wirth Gallery conjures the appeal and shortcomings of technology with a shiny surface that looks too thin to last. Doubled by a mirror across one wall, the balloon meets a counterpart that has no substance, existing as reflection only. Pictured on the mirror, a line of unicyclists with no heads suggest an unstable and potentially disastrous row of actors. Long interested in utopian ideals and their less-than-perfect outworkings, Bul’s installation invites viewers to occupy a middle ground of attraction and unease. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 24th).
