Sonic Mathematical Blossom – Pseudospherical Trinity (from Kuen): Haegue Yang’s “Mathematical Plants” Sculpture
4 minute read
May 18, 2026
Located within the lobby of Hyundai Motor Group headquarters in Yangjae, Seoul,
Haegue Yang’s new commissioned artwork, Sonic Mathematical Blossom – Pseudospherical Trinity (from Kuen), offers a visual interpretation of the abstract realm of mathematics through a contemporary sculptural language. The artwork articulates a narrative that bridges artistic imagination and the Group’s innovative engineering roots.
Haegue Yang, Sonic Mathematical Blossom – Pseudospherical Trinity (from Kuen), 2025.
Commissioned by Hyundai Motor Company. Photo: © Cheolki Hong
A newly commissioned artwork for Hyundai Motor Group headquarters in Yangjae, Seoul
International artist Haegue Yang, commissioned by Hyundai Motor Company, has created a new artwork for the renovated lobby of the Hyundai Motor Group headquarters in Yangjae, Seoul. Yang’s work began with the premise that the engineering technology on which Hyundai Motor Group is built originates in pure mathematics. While searching for a way to visualize this idea, she recalls a model of “Kuen Surface” housed at the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris. Known for its unique aesthetic structure, the Kuen Surface is a form studied by the mathematician Theodor Kuen, characterized by constant negative curvature. The model was then dismantled, mirrored, and recomposed into three distinct forms to produce plant-like structures. By rendering mathematical formulas into organic, aesthetic forms, the artwork evokes the relationship between fundamental research and future innovation on which the company is founded.
Haegue Yang, Sonic Mathematical Blossom – Pseudospherical Trinity (from Kuen), 2025.
Commissioned by Hyundai Motor Company. Photo: © Cheolki Hong
Sonic Mathematical Blossom – Pseudospherical Trinity (from Kuen)
Sonic Mathematical Blossom – Pseudospherical Trinity (from Kuen) is part of Yang’s Sonic Sculptures series, which utilizes metal bells as a primary material. The surface of the sculpture is covered with stainless steel bells, manually attached to a mesh stretched across a metal frame. This construction allows the surface to acquire a materiality that is neither fully three-dimensional nor planar.
While the form is derived from the abstract language of mathematics, the resulting structure evokes organic, plant-like shapes. As indicated by the subtitle Pseudospherical Trinity (from Kuen), the repeated and symmetrical curved surfaces depart from the sphere while remaining reminiscent of it.
Diversity and hybridity in Haegue Yang’s sculptural practice
Haegue Yang’s practice constructs narratives by mediating historically absent yet potentially latent relationships among diverse figures, ideas, cultures, and events. The newly commissioned artwork also highlights a hybridity of materials and references. The "mathematical plants" rest on pedestals inspired by the rustic, tripodal ceramics of Oaxaca, Mexico. These pottery-shaped forms are sealed with a smooth, black mirrored surface. This mirror reflects the sculpture above, visually binding the upper and lower elements into a continuous whole. This combination of the folk-inflected pedestal and the mathematically derived body expresses Yang's distinctive hybrid world.
Haegue Yang, Sonic Mathematical Blossom –
Pseudospherical Trinity (from Kuen), 2025.
Commissioned by Hyundai Motor Company.
Photo: © Cheolki Hong
Haegue Yang
Haegue Yang (b. 1971, Seoul) lives and works between Berlin and Seoul. Yang’s practice spans a wide range of media and explores unexpected connections among histories, knowledge systems, and traditions. She is best known for her Sonic Sculptures, which incorporate metal bells, as well as her Venetian blind installations. Major exhibitions of her work have been presented at institutions orldwide. In 2020, Hyundai Motor Company supported MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2020: Haegue Yang – O₂ & H₂O in partnership with the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA).
Haegue Yang, Sonic Mathematical Blossom – Pseudospherical Trinity (from Kuen), 2025.
Commissioned by Hyundai Motor Company. Photo: © Cheolki Hong
Hyundai Motor’s Commitment to the Arts
Hyundai Motor is dedicated to supporting artistic experimentation and boundary-pushing collaboration. Its ongoing collaborations embrace the complexities of the cultural landscape by exploring new ideas and perspectives within and beyond the art ecosystem.
Visit artlab.hyundai.com or follow @hyundai and @hyundai.artlab on Instagram to learn more about its partnerships and programs.