'Humming Chorus' flows through Paik Nam June's restored studio

‘Memorabilia' is a reconstruction of Paik Nam June's studio space in New York, which is displayed at the Paik Nam June Art Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. This space is not typically open to the public, but last Thursday, eight visitors followed a guide into a storage room stacked with CRT monitors, as well as into the curator's office and the director's office. They were able to see these hidden museum spaces because they were participating in a performance piece by Japanese artist Tetsuya Umeda, titled 'Walk about Water.'

Umeda's 'Walkabout Water' lasts about 50 minutes and takes you on tour both inside and outside the museum. Along the way, in addition to viewing the artist's installations, performers illuminate interesting spaces within the museum using gestures instead of words, inviting the audience to explore on their own. The tours are held at 2 p.m. every Friday and Saturday, with new sessions starting every 20 minutes, for a total of six sessions. Teams that depart at different times are reunited from time to time.

'NJP Commissions: Humming Chorus,' an exhibition of new works commissioned by the Paik Nam June Art Center from both domestic and international artists, opened last Thursday. NJP Commissions is the first exhibition of its kind at the Paik Nam June Art Center, designed to foster new works by mid-career artists who engage with important topics in contemporary art, while showcasing their profound artistic world. In addition to Umeda, the artists included are Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Eglė Budvytytė, and Choi Chan Sook.

Born in South Korea and based in Germany, Jordan presents 'Welcome to All That Is to Come (Unofficial),' a new work inspired by Paik Nam June. The piece consists of a piano with light-emitting diode (LED) lights and piano performance sounds, an old computer, a silicone hand, and a large tank of water on the floor. As the audience approaches, a pendulum swings, and the hand moves toward the piano and begins to play. Although the piece is triggered by sophisticated sensors, human interaction disturbs the machine's reflection in the water, serving as a metaphor for deconstructing the language of the machine.

Budvytytė, from Lithuania, installed three large, interconnected trampolines. On a normal day, the audience can sit and relax on them. The performance workshop 'Be Carried to Go, Be Dragged to Go (Unofficial)' is also held here. It explores the violence implicit in the act of 'dragging' as well as the complex meanings of caring and looking after others. Choi will present 'The Tumble All That Fall,' an essay film about the solidarity between an Iraq War veteran and the Apache tribe, a Native American community, whom he met while traveling across Arizona. 'The Tumble,' which depicts the life of tumbleweeds that spread their seeds by rolling in the wind, will also be exhibited.


Min Kim kimmin@donga.com