(LA) Yoonjeong Lee: Heroes and Protagonists / (VENICE CA) Hun Chung Lee: Building Blocks / (SEOUL) Kyuhwa Moon & Scott Lee at RYSE
GOBI is a curatorial initiative that softens boundaries between Art–Culture and Aesthetic–Function. Through exhibitions, experiences, and collaborations, GOBI highlights contemporary artists, designers, and cultural producers of Korea and diasporic communities in Los Angeles.
GOBI draws its name from gobi, a Korean traditional furniture from the Joseon dynasty. It was a cabinet that was hung on the wall as decoration and used to hold letters and documents. Gobi was unique in that it was the only furniture that valued aesthetic and function equally.
Email hello@gobi.la
IG @gobi.losangeles
GOBI is directed by Jenny Eom, art directed and designed by Jaejin Ee & Sangah Shin, and built by Eurico Sa Fernandes.
We are a small team working with objects created by artists, not factories. This means that inventory isn’t always guaranteed and that shipping times may take longer. If the item is in stock at GOBI, it will ship from La Crescenta, CA within 7 business days from the date we receive the order. However, some items are made-to-order or available for preorder and have varying lead times. Please refer to the individual work descriptions for specific guidelines on shipping.
Items ship via FedEx, UPS, or USPS and orders that are over $200 will automatically receive free shipping.
Currently, we do not offer returns and exchanges. All orders are considered Final Sale. If you receive a damaged order, please email us at hello@gobi.la. All damaged orders must be notified within 7 days from receiving the item.
Delivered packages that are reported as lost or stolen will not be refunded.
If you want to place an order to be shipped outside of the United States, please email us at hello@gobi.la to make the necessary accommodations.
These Terms of Use apply to the website located at gobi.la. The Site is the property of GOBI. BY USING THE SITE, YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, DO NOT USE THE SITE.
GOBI reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, modify, add or remove portions of these Terms of Use, at any time. It is your responsibility to check these Terms of Use periodically for changes. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes will mean that you accept and agree to the changes. As long as you comply with these Terms of Use, gobi.la grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited privilege to enter and use the Site.
The following Conditions of Sale (“Agreement”) define the relationship between GOBI Los Angeles (“GOBI” or “we” or “us”) and the buyer (“you” or the “buyer”) of the artwork (“Work”) sold in connection with the website at http://gobi.la (the “Site”). We may modify these Conditions of Sale as well as any other terms, conditions or information on the Site by posting such changes on the Site. By making an offer to purchase any Work or participating in any sale, you accept and agree to be bound by these Conditions of Sale and any other policies, guidelines, FAQs and requirements that we post elsewhere on GOBI from time to time, including GOBI’s Terms of Use.
The Site is a platform for the exhibition and sale of artwork and other property. All buyers on the Site must be at least 18 years old and able to form binding contracts under applicable law. You are responsible for all charges incurred under your account. In order to make a purchase, GOBI may use the services of third parties. We reserve the right to withdraw the Work from the Site at any time without any liability whatsoever for the withdrawal. Unless agreed otherwise in writing between you and us, we are not responsible to the buyer in any way with respect to the exhibition or sale of any Work on the Site.
All text, graphics, user interfaces, visual interfaces, photographs, trademarks, logos, sounds, music, artwork and computer code (collectively, “Content”), including but not limited to the design, structure, selection, coordination, expression, “look and feel” and arrangement of such content, contained on the site is owned, controlled or licensed by or to GOBI and is protected by trade dress, copyright, patent and trademark laws, and various other intellectual property rights and unfair competition laws.
Except as expressly provided in these Terms of Use, no part of the site and no content may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, encoded, translated, transmitted or distributed in any way (including “mirroring”) to any other computer, server, website or other medium for publication or distribution or for any commercial enterprise, without GOBI’s prior written consent.
Subject to fulfillment of all applicable terms and conditions of this Agreement, when the buyer makes a purchase on the Site the buyer shall immediately pay the total amount due, comprised of the total purchase price of the Work and all applicable taxes and service fees. By making a credit card purchase, the buyer irrevocably waives any charge-back rights the buyer may otherwise have under the buyer’s cardholder agreement or otherwise. If a credit card payment is not approved, the buyer will remain personally liable for the total amount otherwise due. In all cases, payment will not be deemed made until we collect the total amount due in good cleared funds. Title to the Work will pass to the buyer when physical possession of the Work is transferred to the buyer or the buyer’s agent or common carrier. Any claims regarding purchases must be made directly to GOBI. The buyer agrees that we may pay commissions to third parties who introduce us to clients or otherwise provide services in connection with the sale.
If the buyer fails to comply with any applicable term or condition of this Agreement, the buyer will be in default, and we will be entitled in our absolute discretion to exercise any or all of the following rights and remedies (in addition to any other rights or remedies available to us at law): (i) to hold the buyer liable for the total amount due, and for interest, commissions on the sale at our regular rates, and any and all legal fees and incidental damages; (ii) to cancel the sale or any other sale to the buyer, retaining as liquidated damages any amounts already paid by the buyer; and/or (iii) to resell the Work publicly or privately as permitted by applicable law, holding the buyer liable for any deficiency between the total amount originally due and the price realized on resale, as well as any costs, expenses, damages and legal fees associated with both sales. By failing to make any payment, the buyer will be deemed to have granted and assigned to us a continuing first priority security interest in any money or other property of or owing to the buyer in our possession, and we shall be entitled to retain and apply such money or other property as collateral security for the buyer’s obligations to us. We will have all rights of a secured party under the California Uniform Commercial Code.
The buyer is responsible for paying all sales, use, GST, VAT or other taxes or charges imposed by law (e.g., a resale royalty) which may be imposed in connection with the sale of the Work that we are required to collect under applicable law and shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) GOBI from costs associated with any failure to do so. We are required to collect sales tax for any Work delivered in the same State that the Work is currently located in.
We are not responsible for any act or omission of any packer, shipper or common carrier in the packing or shipping of the Work.
Neither GOBI nor any of our past, present or future direct and indirect parents, subsidiaries, divisions, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, representatives, attorneys, successors, receivers, insurers, guarantors, related companies, interest holders, members, partners, beneficiaries and assigns make any representation of warranty or assume any liability whatsoever with respect to the merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, description, size, quality, condition, attribution, authenticity, rarity, importance, medium, provenance, exhibition history, literature or historical relevance of the Work, and no information regarding the Work provided on the Site, in a bill of sale or elsewhere will constitute any such warranty of assumption of liability. We are not responsible for any errors or omissions in any information on the Site or elsewhere regarding the Work. The Work is sold “AS IS.” We do not warrant that the buyer will acquire any copyright or other reproduction right to the Work.
GOBI DOES NOT PROMISE THAT THE SITE OR ANY CONTENT, SERVICE OR FEATURE OF THE SITE WILL BE ERROR-FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED, OR THAT ANY DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT YOUR USE OF THE SITE WILL PROVIDE SPECIFIC RESULTS. THE SITE AND ITS CONTENT ARE DELIVERED ON AN “AS-IS” AND “AS-AVAILABLE” BASIS. ALL INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THE SITE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. GOBI CANNOT ENSURE THAT ANY FILES OR OTHER DATA YOU DOWNLOAD FROM THE SITE WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR CONTAMINATION OR DESTRUCTIVE FEATURES. GOBI DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES OF ACCURACY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. GOBI DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR THE ACTS, OMISSIONS AND CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTIES IN CONNECTION WITH OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND/OR ANY GOBI SERVICES. YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND ANY LINKED SITES. YOUR SOLE REMEDY AGAINST GOBI FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SITE OR ANY CONTENT IS TO STOP USING THE SITE OR ANY SUCH CONTENT. THIS LIMITATION OF RELIEF IS A PART OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN THE PARTIES.
The above disclaimer applies to any damages, liability or injuries caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use, whether for breach of contract, tort, negligence or any other cause of action.
GOBI shall not be liable for any damages, in particular GOBI shall not be liable for any special, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages, or damages for lost profits, loss of revenue, or loss of use, arising out of or related to any dispute regarding any Work offered and/or sold on the Site, whether such damages arise in contract, negligence, tort, under statute, in equity, at law, or otherwise, even if GOBI has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Buyer agrees to indemnify and hold GOBI and each and all of our past, present or future direct and indirect parents, subsidiaries, divisions, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, representatives, attorneys, successors, receivers, insurers, guarantors, related companies, interest holders, members, partners, beneficiaries and assigns, harmless from any claims, damages, demands or liabilities including attorneys’ fees and costs, arising in any way from your purchase of the Work asserted by any third party, including but not limited your breach of this Agreement, or your violation of any third party right. We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you agree to assist and cooperate with us in asserting any available defenses. This indemnification and defense obligation will survive this Agreement.
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed according to the laws of the State of California and the United States, excluding California’s conflicts of laws rules. Any claim or cause of action arising from or related to this Agreement or your use of the Site shall be filed solely and exclusively in an appropriate state or federal court located in Los Angeles County in the State of California, and you irrevocably consent to the personal jurisdiction of such courts and waive any objections you may have to such courts as the sole venue for any such claim or cause of action, including but not limited to any claim that any such court is an inconvenient forum. In the event of any conflict between U.S. and foreign laws, rules and regulations, those of the U.S. will govern. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods will not apply to this Agreement.
Last Updated: 05/25/21
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect the personal information you provide to us when you access our website, purchase our goods or services, or engage with us on social media, as well as your own rights to the information we collect.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. We will alert you to any changes to this Policy by changing the “last updated” date at the top of this Policy. Any changes become effective immediately upon publication on our website, and you waive specific notice of any changes to the Policy by continuing to use and access our site(s). We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically, when you use our website for any purpose or engage with us on social media. You are deemed to have accepted any changes to any revised Privacy Policy by your continued use of our website after the revised Privacy Policy is posted.
We collect a variety of information from you when you visit our website, make purchases, or interact with us on social media. By accepting this Privacy Policy, you are specifically consenting to our collection of the data described below, to our use of the data, to the processing of this data, and to our sharing of the data with third party processors as needed for our legitimate business interests. The information we collect may include:
Personal Data: Personal data is information that can be used to identify you specifically, including your name, shipping address, email address, telephone number or demographic information like your age, gender, or hometown. You consent to giving us this information by providing it to us voluntarily on our website or any mobile application. You provide some of this information when you register through the form on our website. You may also provide this information by participating in various activities associated with our site, including creating an account, contacting us with questions, and subscribing to the mailing list. Your decision to disclose this data is entirely voluntary. You are under no obligation to provide this information, but your refusal may prevent you from accessing certain benefits from our website or from purchasing services.
Derivative Data: Derivative data is information that our servers automatically collect about you when you access our website, such as your IP address, browser type, the dates and times that you access our website, and the specific pages you view. If you are using a mobile application, our servers may collect information about your device name and type, your phone number, your country of origin, and other interactions with our application.
Financial Data: Financial data is data that is related to your payment method, such as credit card or bank transfer details. We collect financial data in order to allow you to purchase, order, return or exchange products or services from our website and any related mobile apps. We store limited financial data. Most financial data is transferred to our payment processors, Authorize.Net, PayPal, and Venmo, and you should review these processors’ Privacy Policy to determine how they use, disclose and protect your financial data.
Social Networking Data: We may access personal information from social networking sites and apps, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Snapchat or other social networking sites or apps not named specifically here, which may include your name, your social network username, location, email address, age, gender, profile picture and any other public information. If you do not want us to access this information, please go to the specific social networking site and change your privacy settings.
Mobile Device Data: If you use our website via a mobile device or app, we may collect information about your mobile device, including device ID, model and manufacturer, and location information.
Your information allows us to offer you certain products and services, including the use of our website, to fulfill our obligations to you and to customize your interaction with our company and our website. We generally store your data and transmit it to a third party for processing. However, to the extent we process your data, we do so to serve our legitimate business interests (such as providing you with the opportunity to purchase our services and interact with our website or mobile app).
Specifically, we may use the information and data described above to:
We may share your information with third parties in certain situations. In particular, we may share your data with third party processors as needed to serve our legitimate business interests, which include administration of our website, entering into contracts with you, communicating with you, taking orders for goods or services, delivering our goods and services, identifying trends, protecting the security of our company and website, and marketing additional goods and services to you. The legal basis for our disclosure of your data is both your Consent to this Privacy Policy and our own right to protect and promote our legitimate business interests. The following are specific reasons why we may share your information:
Third Party Processing: We may disclose your information to third parties who assist us with various tasks, including payment processing, hosting services, email delivery and customer service. For more information, see the “Third Party Processing” Section below.
By Law: We may share your data as required by law or to respond to legal process, including a subpoena, or as necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of others. This includes sharing information with other parties to prevent or address fraud and to avoid credit risks.
To Protect Our Company: We may use your information to protect our company, including to investigate and remedy any violations of our rights or policies. We may also disclose your information as reasonably necessary to acquire and maintain insurance coverage, manage risks, obtain financial or legal advice, or to exercise or defend against legal claims.
Advertisers: We may use third party advertising companies to run and manage our ads, such as Facebook and Instagram to produce ads that appears when you visit our Website or mobile app. These companies may use information about your visit to our website and other websites that are contained in web cookies (as described below) to offer you personalized advertisements about goods and services that might interest you. We cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites. You should consult the respective Privacy Policies of these third-party advertisers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices.
Other Third Parties: We may share information with advertisers, our investors, or other third parties for the purpose of conducting general business analysis. If we do so, we will make reasonable efforts to inform You if required by law.
Interaction with Others: If you interact with others on our website or mobile app, such as commenting on a social media post, other users may have access to some of your data, including your name, profile picture, and your history of interaction with our website, such as prior comments or posts.
Online Postings: When you post online, your posts may be viewed by others, and we may distribute your comments outside the website.
External Links: Our website may include hyperlinks to other websites not controlled by us. We suggest you exercise caution when clicking on a hyperlink. Although we use reasonable care in including a hyperlink on our own web page, we do not regularly monitor the websites of these third parties and are not responsible for any damage or consequences you suffer by using these hyperlinks. We are not bound by the Privacy Policies of any third-party website that you access by a hyperlink, nor are they bound by ours. We encourage you to read the Policies of those third-party websites before interacting with them or making purchases. They may collect different information and by different methods than we do.
Other Purposes: We may disclose your personal data as necessary to comply with any legal obligation or to protect your interests, or the vital interests of others or our company.
Like many other Web sites, we make use of log files. These files merely log visitors to the site – usually a standard procedure for hosting companies and a part of hosting services’ analytics. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and possibly the number of clicks. This information is used to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.
We also use cookies – small text files sent to us by your computer – and web beacons to store certain information. We may use cookies to authenticate your identity, to determine if you are logged onto our website, for personalization, for security, for targeted advertising, or for analysis of the performance of our website and services. For example, cookies allow us to recommend blog posts to you based on what you have read on our site in the past. We use cookies that are not specific to your account but unique enough to allow us to analyze general trends and use, and to customize your interaction with our website.
Most browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. However, this may affect your ability to use or make purchases from our website. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers’ respective websites. By continuing to use our website and not disabling cookies on your browser, you are consenting to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy.
We may partner with third party analytic companies, including but not limited to WooCommerce Analytics and Google Analytics. The analytic companies may also use cookies or other tracking technologies to analyze visitors’ use of our website or mobile app to determine the popularity of the content, and better understand online activity. We do not transfer personal information to these third-party vendors. However, in order to access our website, you must consent to the collection and use of your information by these third-party analytic companies. You should review their Privacy Policy and contact them directly if you have questions. If you do not want any information to be collected and used by tracking technologies, visit the Network Advertising Initiative Opt-Out Tool or Digital Advertising Alliance Opt-Out Tool.
For the most part, we do not process your information in-house, but give it to third party processors for processing. For example, when PayPal takes your payment information, they are a third-party processor. They process your payment and remit the funds to us. So, in many instances, it will be necessary for us to transmit your information to a third-party processor, as we do not have the capability to perform these functions. More detail on third party processing is detailed below.
However, we may, from time to time, process your data internally. The legal basis for this processing is both your consent to the processing, and our need to conduct our legitimate business interests. Our purposes in processing this information, if we do, is to administer, maintain, and improve our website and offerings, to enter into contracts with you, to fulfill the terms of those contracts, to keep records of our transactions and interactions, to be able to provide you with goods and services, to comply with our legal obligations, to obtain professional advice, and to protect the rights and interests of our company, our customers (including you), and any third parties. We may process the following data:
Our website is hosted by servers located in the U.S. Therefore, if you reside in the European Union, some of your data will be transferred internationally to those servers. Transfers will be protected by appropriate safeguards, namely the EU-US Privacy Shield. More information on the Privacy Shield can be found at: https://www.privacyshield.gov/welcome.
We retain personal data as long as it is needed to conduct our legitimate business purposes or to comply with our legal obligations, or until you ask us to delete your data. For example, we will retain certain personal information indefinitely for the purposes of maintaining your account, unless and until you delete your account.
Data that we gather for a specific and particular purpose, such as assisting law enforcement or analyzing trends, will not be kept for longer than is necessary for that particular purpose. Data that is no longer needed by us for any of the purposes listed above will be permanently deleted. You may request that we delete your data at any time. However, note that we cannot control the retention policies of third parties. If you wish to have any third parties, including those to whom we’ve transmitted your data, delete that data, you will need to contact those third parties directly. You may request from us a list of all third parties to whom we have transmitted your data.
We take all reasonable steps to protect your personal data and keep your information secure. We use recognized online secure payment systems and implement generally accepted standards of security to protect against personal data loss or misuse. However, no security measure is foolproof, and no method of data transmission can be guaranteed against interception or misuse. We cannot guarantee complete security of any information you transmit to us. By consent to this Privacy Policy, you acknowledge that your personal data may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use or misuse of your data by other parties. We will notify you promptly of any known breach of our security systems or your data which might expose you to serious risk.
This website or mobile app is not designed for use by children under age 18, and we do not knowingly solicit personal data from anyone under age 18. If you are under age 18, do not access or use our website or related products or services. If you become aware that we have collected data of anyone under the age of 18, please contact us so that we may delete that data. This policy is in accordance with the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and outlines our practices in the United States regarding children’s personal information. For more information about COPPA and general tips about protecting children’s online privacy, please visit FTC Consumer Information.
You have certain rights with respect to your personal data, as outlined below. Note that we may charge you a reasonable fee for actions that you ask us to take with respect to your data. In addition, we reserve the right to request that you provide us with evidence of your identity before we take any action with respect to the exercise of your data rights. Further, your rights may be restricted or nullified to the extent they conflict with our compelling business interests, the public interest, or the law.
You have the right to update or change any information you have provided to us. To update or delete your information, please contact us at hello@gobi.la.
You have the right to request that we confirm what data we hold about you, and for what purposes. You also have the right to confirm whether we process your data or deliver your data to third party processors, and for what purposes. We will supply you with copies of your personal data unless doing so would affect the rights and freedoms of others.
You have the right to change your consent to our use of your information. In such cases, we may require you to delete your account with us, as described above, and you may not have full access to our website.
You have the right to request that we delete all data that we hold about you, and we must delete such data without undue delay. There are exceptions to this right, such as when keeping your data is required by law, is necessary to exercise the right of freedom of expression and information, is required for compliance with a legal obligation, or is necessary for the exercise or defense of legal claims. Such a request may result in a termination of your account with us and you may have limited or no use of our website.
You may opt out of receiving future email correspondence from us or change your communication settings by contacting us at hello@gobi.la. We offer the opportunity for you to volunteer certain information to us that is used for email and marketing purposes. This information includes, but is not limited to, your name and email. You will have an opportunity to unsubscribe from any future communications via email, but we reserve the right to maintain a database of past email subscribers. We reserve the right to use this information as reasonably necessary in our business and as provided by law. Your information will be shared with reasonably necessary parties for the ordinary course of conducting our business, such as through Facebook ads or Google Pay Per Click marketing campaigns.
If any part of these Terms, Conditions and Privacy Policy is deemed unlawful and/or unenforceable, all other provisions contained herein will remain in full force and effect.
The information contained herein constitutes the entire agreement between site users and our company relating to the use of this website.
GOBI
3153 El Caminito
La Crescenta, CA 91214
hello@gobi.la
Dimensions: 15” x 9.5” x 3” each
Medium: Wood, graphite, found objects, metal hardware
Type: Unique
The etymology of 译, meaning “translate” in Chinese, shares the same root as a bird trapping method known as 囮. Bird-catchers would set up nets and place one domesticated bird underneath. This bird, through its captivating song, entices other birds to flock towards it, making them unwittingly fall into the trap. Translators were seen as luring birds during the tumultuous period surrounding the First Opium War. Their linguistic skills resembled a mysterious power, as they were potent tools of persuasion and manipulation. Language was never a bridge for communication but deadly melodies seducing one’s own kind. Robert Morrison codified and renamed the entire world when he compiled the first bidirectional Chinese-English dictionary. He flipped the two sides of the world, at a time when the Chinese language was prohibited from being taught to foreigners. In Etymology of Translation, The Birdcatcher’s Bird (2024), each of the four boxes as well as the kite installation features the foot of a messenger bird – that of a pigeon, crow, bluebird, and swan goose. Drawing inspiration from myths, literature, and historical facts, the kit is a retelling of the birds’ roles in delivering messages. Birds have served as messengers throughout human history, for gods, mortals, heroes, and enemies. Secrets are hidden beneath their feathers and tied to their feet are countless mouths and tongues. Strings bound to the birds’ feet are about to be seized. Translation retells stories and reshapes narratives. Does one, too, become the embodiment of transmigration from fragmented words?
*Boxes are stackable and can be closed with the lid.
Ruoyi Shi is an interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. Inspired by ancient tales and rituals intertwined with language, habits, and societal norms, she combines humor and fiction to construct her poetic narratives. Her work explores the interface between nature and artificial existences, as well as the notion of truth and its fabrication.
This work is on view at GOBI as part of the Function–Fiction exhibition. Work will ship out or be ready for pick-up at GOBI in September after the exhibition closes. Shipping rates are calculated separately via email. For inquiries regarding shipping, please email hello@gobi.la
Crow
Blue Bird
Pigeon
