Gregory Maass & Nayoungim

is a public art work, first installed in front of the Seoul railway station in 2008. It is made of rubber, toys, foam mattresses and steel frames, and sprayed over with expansion foam. The entire construction is painted with a collection of surplus paints. The face of the sculpture depicts the past, present, and future of the city of Seoul.

Gregory Maass was born in Hagen in North Rhine-Westphalia, northern Germany, his mother tongue being German. He worked as a paramedic before moving to Paris, France. He studied philosophy at the Paris-Sorbonne University and art at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, at the Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques (IHEAP) Paris (1993–94) and at Jan Van Eyck Academie the Netherlands (1998–2000).

Nayoungim was born in Seoul in South Korea. She studied art at the Seoul National University and later at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. The two first met on 12 September 1991 while studying sculpture at the ENSBA. The two claim they came together because they are both egomaniacs who form a symbiosis. They communicate with each other in French and English. They have claimed that they married in 2008.

Gregory Maass´ first solo-show entitled "Tears of Boredom" (the original German title is "Tränen vor Langeweile"), was held in 1991 in Hagen, Germany. It consisted of a tautological representation of peanuts. Large scale peanut butter paintings representing peanuts, black and white photographs of peanuts, and an installation of peanuts positioned in tensegrity were on display.

duo-show was about different kinds of possible success in art, be it fame and glory, money and power, or the desired result of an attempt. The title derives from Genesis P-Orridge´s first recording with Worm. "In the summer of 1968, Worm recorded their first and only album, entitled Early Worm, in Megson's parents attic in Solihull. It was pressed onto vinyl in November at Deroy Sound Services in Manchester, but only one copy was ever produced. A second album, Catching the Bird, was recorded but never pressed."

Gregory Maass (born 29 April 1967 in Hagen, Germany) and Nayoungim (sometimes referred to as Kim Nayoung; Korean: 김나영; born 13 March 1966 in Seoul, South Korea) are two artists who work together as a collaborative duo called Gregory Maass & Nayoungim. Gregory Maass & Nayoungim's idiosyncratic work brings together philosophy, psychoanalysis, cybernetics, cybernetic management, economy, fringe science, science fiction, art and craft, music, comics, conspiracy theory, sub-culture, and food by focusing on such diverse means as adaptation, normality, perversion, and methodology. They are the founders of Kim Kim Gallery, which describes itself as "a non-profit organization, locative art, an art dealership based on unconventional marketing, a curatorial approach, an exhibition design firm, and editor of rare art books, depending on the situation it adapts to; in short, it does not fit the format imposed by the term Gallery." One rarely appears in public without the other.

The pair is perhaps best known for their miniature work called "Relationships Do Not Exist". This group of sculptures is one of the largest series of work created by Gregory Maass & Nayoungim. Relationships Do Not Exist is among the more iconic, philosophically astute and visually humorous works that Gregory Maass & Nayoungim have created. The title derives from the famous Jacques Lacan quote “Sexual relationships do not exist”. They proceeded by choosing samples from a wide collection of figurines ranging from the 1950s until today. In an intricate process the bodies are dismembered and reassembled, painted and mounted on empty trophy pedestals. Gregory Maass & Nayoungim call this an adaptation method: "First we cannibalize them and then they get frankensteined back together."