[대학로 100번지] Looking over past 30 years of 100 Daehangno

Daehangno, now famous as a popular spot for watching plays and concerts, was actually where Seoul National University College was located 30 years ago.

The prestigious university's college of Liberal Arts and Science was situated at the address "100 Daehangno." In 1979, after the university moved to southern Seoul, Arko Art Center was built there.

In commemorating its 30th anniversary, the center is holding an exhibition "100 Daehangno."

"The exhibition not only recollects the changes and memories during the 30 years but also emphasizes that its ongoing energy is still valid," said exhibition curator Kim Hyung-mi.

Her words sound more meaningful and somewhat ironic as this exhibition might be the last exhibition held at the center. The government is planning to turn the center into a cultural multiplex which will mainly feature performances, according to the center's officials.

The art community is already missing the non-profit public exhibition space which introduced many experimental contemporary arts.

"The center may have been a little isolated from the public due to the location. But changing the use of the center would be a big loss for the art community. We are seeking ways to better develop the center," said Kim Chan-dong, the center's director.

The center put in some major efforts in this exhibition.

One of the most attention-grabbing works is Koo Dong-hee's "Look who's talking."

Koo brought a live parrot into the exhibition room to question the role of an art center by comparing it with the bird which is bred and trained to please its owner. A host of toy birds keep the parrot company in its cage.

Koo also shows a video of the showroom which is being recorded real-time from the parrot's view.

Park Joo-yeon posted 100 original album covers from the 1980s on the wall. Some songs that were included in the original versions of older albums met government censorship and were taken out in the copies for sale.

Curious visitors can listen to the once banned music at "Take out Drawing," the center's restaurant.

Artist group Sulki & Min compiled the prefaces from Arco Art Center's exhibition catalogues over the three decades and bound them into a single book.

As the introductions usually explained the current issues in the art world and the backgrounds of the exhibition, viewers will be able to see how the art community evolved over the years.

For a similar purpose, Lee Mi-kyung collected the center's exhibition posters since then and posted them on a wall.

Meanwhile, Kim Seung-young filled the museum's walls with names. They are the names of possibly everyone who has entered the museum grounds at least once since its opening, including artists, officials, reporters, and of course visitors. Kim's work is often updated to include the names of the recent visitors.

The exhibition runs through July 5 at Arko Art Center in Dongsung-dong, central Seoul. Tickets are 2,000 won for adults and 1,000 won for kids. It is closed on Mondays. For more information, call (02) 760-4850 or visit www.arkoartcenter.or.kr

By Park Min-young

(claire@heraldm.com)

[욘복]John Bock rouses natural art instinct

2008.11.25

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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.

"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)