The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 11, 2026

A woven straw and steel sculpture stands vertically on four casters. The tiered, golden form features a conical base supporting a bulbous midsection with two arms holding arching green leaves. Above, the vessel widens into a flared top embellished with woven ruffles and hanging dark spheres. Various artificial fruits and vegetables rest within the top rim, accented at center by a small red, white, and green ribbon.

The Intermediate--Naturalized Klangkoerper

2016

Haegue Yang

(Korean, b. 1971)
Korea
Artificial straw, steel stand, powder coating, artificial plants, artificial fruits, artificial vegetables, plastic twine, Indian bells, fringes, casters
Overall: 180 x 150 x 100 cm (70 7/8 x 59 1/16 x 39 3/8 in.)
Purchased with funds donated by Scott Mueller 2018.29
Location: Not on view

Description

The Intermediate – Naturalized Klangkoerper uses contemporary mass-produced materials—in the “readymade” tradition of modernist art—to conjure folklore and history from the artist’s native South Korea. Its anthropomorphic straw form is suggestive of Korean straw dolls popular in folklore rituals, and the bells integrated throughout the work evoke Korean shaman rituals in which the shaman, almost exclusively women in the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), would ring bronze bells to communicate with the spiritual world.
  • 2016–?
    Collection of the artist
    ?–2018
    (Greene Naftali Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    June 5, 2018–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Smith, Roberta. “Haegue Yang.” The New York Times. April 1, 2016: C21
    Lemos, Sofia. “Haegue Yang’s ‘Quasi-ESP.’” Art Agenda (December 1, 1997).
    Vergara, Leire. "Haegue Yang: Untimely Histories." Afterall Autumn/Winter 2013. P. 101-107
    Voon, Claire. “At the Montreal Biennial, Lessons in How to Look.” Hyperallergic (November 7, 2016). hyperallergic.com
    Dziewior, Yilmaz, ed. Haegue Yang: ETA 1994-2018. exh. cat. Cologne: Museum Ludwig, 2018. Reproduced and mentioned: p. 293, cat. 1187
    Liebert, Emily. “Acquisitions 2018: Contemporary Art.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 59, no. 2 (March/April 2019): 18-19. Reproduced: P. 18; Mentioned: P. 18, 19.
  • Creating Urgency: Modern and Contemporary Korean Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 22-October 23, 2022).
  • {{cite web|title=The Intermediate--Naturalized Klangkoerper|url=false|author=Haegue Yang|year=2016|access-date=11 August 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.29