2008.11.25
To what extent can things be called art? This has been a question asked throughout history and John Bock makes it more complicated by replying: "If a Q-tip falls on the floor, it is art."
Arts Council Korea is offering "2 handbags in a pickle," Bock's first solo exhibition in Asia at Arko Art Center in Dongsung-dong and Insa Art Space in Insa-dong, giving visitors a chance to ponder this question for themselves.
Bock is a German artist who is referred to as the next Joseph Beuys - a master of avant-garde performances who passed away in 1986 - with his unique practices full of visual spectacle, plus sensational and dynamic action. The words most frequently used to describe Bock are "bizarre," "mad" and "grotesque."
It is hard to define what kind of art he does, since he adopts various forms of not only visual art but also literature, music, film, architecture and fashion. But one thing is sure: to Bock, art is simply a native language. He learns and expresses his thoughts by realizing the natural instinct of art, which is enjoying it, experiencing it and playing with it.
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| "PARA-SCHIZO, ensnarled" (2008), a 2-channel video work by John Bock/Anton Kern, New York; Klosterfelde, Berlin |
In the Seoul exhibition, Bock performs - calling it a "lecture" - using various objects, then films it and shows the film, the costumes and objects he used during the performance. Thirty Korean and German staff worked together to help Bock realize his vision. "All the staff are artists," says Kim Hee-jin, curator of Insa Art Space. "It was impossible to work with an ordinary film crew. The only ones that could understand Bock's abstract orders were artists."
Bock said the handbag in the show title means a microcosm that is situated in another, bigger level of the universe, which he calls the pickle. It can be interpreted into whatever text the viewers want it to be, for example, Bock's performance and the film that records it, our body within the biological structure of the space or even Korea's political situation.
"PARA-SCHIZO, ensnarled," Bock's newest film showing in Arko Art Center, is displayed in two screens each featuring a person, offering an example case of how the title of the exposition can be interpreted. A boy and a girl are on separate quests for each other. Their behavior represents different, interpretative symbols of a relationship. They clash, they destroy each other and they reproduce each other in a cycle of mutual interplay.
All Locations in the film are in Korea.
"Korea is like a raw sun," said Bock at a press conference last week. "Almost everything I wanted to involve in my work was against the law in the United States but it is not like that in Korea. Korea is passionate and strong."
Insa Art Space showcases eight short films and four cinematic films that have earned Bock today's international acclaim. In a film titled, "Porcelain Iso-Schizo Kitchen Act of the Neuro-dermitic Barock-Fall inside the coffee Whirlpool and all of this really Expensive," Bock spills different kinds of sauce all over his body and floor. Also, ketchup squirts and fried eggs fly everywhere.
In "Lust Tarte," Bock is upside down, walking on the ceiling with his head stuck in a paper box on the floor. He constantly whispers "I'm scared." At the finale, he draws a woman's eyelash with the swoop of his foot.
Confused? Kim advises that the key to enjoy his work is to not think too hard. "Don't try too hard to find the meanings in it. Take this opportunity to rediscover how fun art used to be."
The exhibition runs through Feb. 8 but is closed on Mondays. Admission is 2,000 won. For more information, call (02) 760-4563 or visit www.arkoartcenter.or.kr
By Park Min-young
(claire@heraldm.com)
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