Daniel Steegmann Mangrané Fish Trying to Kiss the Moon, 2025

Fish Trying to Kiss the Moon is a video work showing the full moon reflected in Wolji, the historic Pond of the Moon in Gyeongju. Rather than focusing the camera on the moon itself, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané captured the water’s shifting surface: in this minimal black-and-white piece, moonlight appears only through its bright reflection on the darkened pond. A single fish rises to the surface, briefly touching the trembling light–a quiet, poetic moment that animates the scene.

The work was produced for the artist’s solo exhibition Befriending the Mountain at the Atelier Hermès in Seoul and reflects Steegmann Mangrané’s longstanding interest in philosophies of nature. Parsing the architecture of thought situated in Korean gardening practices, the artist began visiting several gardens around Seoul. There he observed the significance of the moon-reflecting pond. As Steegmann Mangrané explains, “This kind of pond normally comes with a small pavilion with an over-sized roof, clinging to the west side of the pond, suspended over the edge, half on the land and half over the water. When sitting in the pavilion on a clear full moon night the oversized roof blocks the sky and makes you unable to see the moon directly, one has to look instead to its reflection in the pond… These ponds are a common feature in Confuncian gardens and reflect the Confuncian idea that some things cannot (and should not) be addressed directly.”