'Candle night' Solstice festival Seoul, June 21

On June 21, Summer solstice, the Korean Women' s environment network will host a "Slow Life" festival in Seoul.



See the Candle night website


Date: Saturday June 21
Time: 6pm - 10 pm
Place: N Seoul Tower (Namsan) Square

Candle workshops, exhibitions, environmentally friendly lifestyle information, unplugged concert by candlelight.
Please email Miwon at: kwen7944@hanmail.net

MODAFE-International Modern Dance Festival in Seoul

The 27th International modern dance festival (MODAFE 2008) is held from May 27 - June 7, 2008.
Top overseas and Korean artists will present a range of performances and seminars.
The program includes some interesting interdisciplinary pieces from international choreographers such as David Zambrano, Jan Fabre, Benoit Lachambre and Philippe Combes.

You can see the performance schedule on the MODAFE website .

Busan Biennale 2008 - mark this in your diary for September

Theme: Expenditure
Period: Sep. 06. - Nov. 15. 2008 (71 days)
Opening ceremony: Sep. 06. 2008
Venues: Busan Museum of Modern Art and others
Exhibitions:
Contemporary Art Exhibition
Sea Art Festival,
Busan Sculpture Project
Participating artists: 183 artists from 34 countries
Host/organizer:
Busan Metropolitan City
Busan Biennale Organizing Committee
Contact: telephone: +82-(0)51-888-6691~9
fax: 82-51-888-6693
email: bbiennale@paran.com

website: www.busanbiennale.org

The 2008 Busan Biennale shows uniqueness of contemporary art from both east and west. 183 artists from 34 countries will represent a distinctive philosophy of "expenditure" and a vivid scene of contemporary art through a variety of artworks including paintings, photographs, videos, installations, outdoor sculptures, etc. Made up of the Contemporary Art Exhibition, the Sea Art Festival and the Busan Sculpture Project, The 2008 Busan Biennale unfolds at the Busan Museum of Modern Art, Gwangalli Beach, APEC Naru Park from September 6th to November 15th.

The Contemporary Art Exhibition will be hosted in the Busan Museum of Modern Art, employing not only the interior spaces of the gallery but also the walls, parking lots, and outdoor spaces nearby to highlight the characteristics of individual art fields. Special exhibits are planned in the measurement room of the Busan Yachting Center, arranging the works of major artists or large-scale installation works. There will be 103artists’ works from 25countries exhibiting.

The exhibits seek to approach contemporary art from critical viewpoints, believing that contemporary art is mired in the trap of reproducing the false images of saturated, oversupplied, repeated symbolic values. Since the symptoms of expenditure appear not only in contemporary society and culture but also in art, especially, in the whole spectrum of contemporary art, it will become a major keyword to reading the latest art trends, which seeks to visualize features of provocation and disintegration.

The Sea Art Festival, which is expected to be a festive venue composed of a variety of works, performances, art and music, will unfold on Gwangalli Beach and nearby areas as a project crossing the boundary between art and everyday life, emphasizing the friendliness of contemporary art. A wide variety of participation art will be exhibited, including ecological works made of environmentally-friendly materials, which will naturally disappear, performance art, and artworks that allow visitors to find or look into something, etc. 58 artists from 18 countries will participate in the festival.

The theme of the Sea Art Festival, "Voyage Without Boundaries," symbolizes the navigation of desires moving toward unfathomable areas. The future seen from the perspective of quantum mechanics is uncertainty itself, emphasizing randomness and unpredictability. Since the future is not determined, it presents freedom and choice, with several factors and motives complementing to participate and engage. The Sea Art Festival brings to the world of reality the conditional "if," which cannot exist in history. The history that we believe is inevitable is rewritten through the distortion of time and space. New artists, who create new artistic - not historical - events, will serve as explorers navigating to find new routes. These new pioneers discover and revise new routes, based upon their intuition and judgement, to find the present address of contemporary art.

The Busan Sculpture Project is inviting 20 artists from 12 countries. The exhibits will be hosted in APEC Naru Park. Materials like stone, concrete, brick, metal, wood will show harmony with grass, flowers, and trees in nature. Going beyond the existing boundary of the sculpture genre, the Project will pursue to harmonize spatial geographical works, such as installation, architecture, landscape architecture, sound, etc. with a city, art, and a garden.

The exhibits will not seek to visually transform a park itself, but rather, extend the epistemological denotation of the space itself. Thus, in addition to artistic and utilitarian works, such as site-specific sculptures and street furniture, the Busan Sculpture Project will be made up of synesthetic works that will change the whole space into one creative space. By installing artworks on the boundaries of a park, the Project will naturally connect what used to be a divided landscape, revealing contemplation on a divide in communication amid advanced information technology and the cure for the problem. The Project will also deal with introspection into an unproductive consumption activity in contemporary consumption-centered society through a stroll on a garden, which is categorized as an "unproductive activity," in contemporary society, where every system is arranged according to the mechanism
of production.

183 artists from 34 countries participate in the 2008 Busan Biennale. Please find how many artists are invited from each country in the followings.

Contemporary Art Exhibition
Georgia 1, The Netherlands 2, Denmark 1, Germany 2, Romania 2, Morocco 1, USA 17, Mexico 1, Venezuela 1, Sweden 1, Switzerland 1, England 4, Israel 1, Italy 2, India 2, Japan 9, China 8, Cyprus 1, Canada 3, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Thailand 5, Portugal 1, France 6, Australia 1 and Korea 29

Sea Art Festival
New Zealand 1, Germany 2, Taiwan 1, Sweden 1, Switzerland 1, Singapore 1, Ireland 1, England 2, Indonesia 1, Japan 7, China 3, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Thailand 1, Poland 2, France 2, Philippines 2, Australia 1 and Korea 30

Busan Sculpture Project
New Zealand 1, The Netherlands 1, USA 2, Vietnam 1, Scotland 1, Ireland 1, England 1, Indonesia 1, Japan 2, China 2, Canada 1 and Korea 6

Busan Biennale 2008
Sep. 6 - Nov. 15, 2008,
Press Opening
Sep. 5. 2008, Auditorium at the Busan Museum of Modern Art
Opening Ceremony
Sep. 6. 2008

Free monthly Art and Culture tour in Hongdae, Seoul

I found this notice in the May edition of Art Map -
Seoul art & culture project with Sangsangmadang:
"Recovering Hongdae".
Date: April - October 2008, the 4th Sunday of each month. 1.30 - 5 pm.
This program is a cultural tour through items of interest in Hongdae. "Recovering Hongdae" with Sansangmadang and SFAC occurs once a month with 20 members for free who applied through the Sangsang madang website. www.sangsangmadang.com

The 4th Sunday of this month is May 25, and in June it would be on June 22. The Sangsangmadang is a swish new arts centre with cinema, gallery, theatre etc located in the Hongdae area, in Seoul. The website is all in Korean so you might need a Korean friend to help get you on the tour list. I'm not quite sure what Hongdae is supposed to be "recovering" from (maybe that's a mistranslation and it should be "re-discovering Hongdae"?) , but sounds like a good way of sticking your nose into the Korean art scene.
email:na@ssmadang.co.kr
Web page info: Culture Planet sangsangmadang

**STOP PRESS: Email from the organisers received May 21. 2008:
"Rediscovering Hongdae" is currently being operated only in Korean as participants are mainly natives at the moment.

However, from September or October, we are planning to prepare exclusive programs for foreign participants proceeded in English.
For this month May) , we have closed the application process, and as present programs in Korean might be inconvenient for you, I would recommend you to take part in the exclusive program that, as I mentioned above runs in English expected to start in September.
However, if you want to try to join this month’s program, please feel free to contact me again. (E-mail : na@ssmadang.co.kr)

I will happily set it up for your convenience.
최하나 매니저 / 상상마당, 마케팅팀
Choi, Ha-na / PR&Marketing / Manager
Tel. 82 2 330 6206 / Fax. 82 2 330 6220 / Mobile. 82 10 9864 0915
Tel: 02-330-6206

Here's a map of the Hongdae area - click on it to see more detail:

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The author of this blog, Penelope Thompson, is an Australian contemporary artist living in Korea who works in performance, installation and community art events. You can see her personal exhibition blog at penelopethompson.blogspot.com.

Calling all Creative Aliens...

I know you're out there - trained artists, dancers, musicians, actors, writers, film makers… all probably working off a student debt or saving for your next project by teaching English somewhere in Korea. If you're like I was when I first arrived, maybe you don't know how to get involved in creative arts projects here, or that a vibrant art festival scene even exists.

It was quite a shock for me to discover that performance art is actually quite big in Korea - with numerous festivals happening all over the country especially in the summer months. Now what I'm talking about here is not the "performing arts" - which is a general term for entertainment in the form of theatre, dance, music, but rather art-based performance, sometimes called "live art". If you think of the art "happenings" in the '60s and '70s when artists did strange things in galleries and public spaces you're on the right track.

Nowadays with new technology, the forms of performance art are ever expanding, and the boundaries between "performing arts" and "performance art" are blurring. I guess the best way of describing performance art is as an event that involves the live presence of the artist(s) and expresses a concept through any kind of media. While that definition may sound kind of dry and boring, it actually means that anything goes and so it's one of the most exciting and energetic art fields today.




In Korea, many provincial cities hold annual performance art festivals, often with a community focus, and organisers would like to invite foreign artists to participate, but the language barrier and lack of any centralised network of communication for in-country creative foreigners usually prohibits contact. Sure there are foreigners who get together, usually in Seoul, and make music or have the odd solo exhibition, but that's usually targeted only at the foreign/English-speaking community. There is an exciting opportunity to also share creative ideas and have cultural exchange with the Korean community - if we can make contact.



If you would like to connect with the Korean creative community I will post links on this Art'n'about blog, and I'd also love to hear from you about any upcoming art projects or existing groups. So watch the side bar and upcoming posts...

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The author of this blog is an Australian contemporary artist living in Korea who works in performance, installation and community art events. You can see her blog at penelopethompson.blogspot.com.

A trip to Seoul National Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA, Seoul)

Sunday at the MoCA

In a recent burst of springtime enthusiasm, I headed for the first time to Seoul Grand Park for a Sunday outing to the National Museum of Contemporary Art. To do this I actually had to overcome my general aversion to large-scale, government-run cultural institutions and my prior impressions of the MoCA as an uninviting fortress-like building in a seemingly remote location. But having done it I can now honestly say the trip was well worth the effort.

It was a very pleasant surprise to step off subway Line 4 after only 30 minutes and enter a lovely, uncrowded park, and stroll with my friends past a scenic lake and through a grassy sculpture garden leading up to the entrance of the museum. The current main attraction until June 15 is a world-class exhibition of contemporary installation art by French artist Annette Messager, for an inexpensive 3000 won entry fee.

So after relaxing with a good coffee on the museum's outdoor deck, my friends and I entered the gallery.

It was immediately obvious that Annette Messager's work has truly taken over the space in Gallery 1 and 7 of the MoCA. This retrospective show is a surprising mix of very large-scale kinetic works, intense black and white photographs, and installations consisting of everything from stuffed birds, netting and children's toys to collections of books, clothing and drawings. At times, you can feel like you are watching a colorful circus or visual theatre show rather than what you would normally expect to see in an art museum. As many of the works are also displayed in specially constructed spaces that deliberately restrict the audience's view, this exhibition is doubly stimulating to the mind and senses.

'The black spots' is an installation housed in a very large darkened space, which can be viewed only through slit-like windows in the wall. The viewer sees multitudes of constantly moving tiny black balls of feathers apparently floating in space for almost as far as the eye can see. These "black spots" hang almost invisibly from the ceiling by fishing line while hidden electric fans disturb the air, creating a strange and mesmerizing effect.

This movement of air is used in many pieces, notably in the very dynamic installation 'Casino' where a huge wave of red silk rolls towards us through a door-like opening.

This red wave seems to threaten to engulf us only to subside while mysterious objects light up as if under a red sea, followed finally by a mass of black skull-like symbols rising up on wires to the heavens. Likewise, the almost magical 'Inflate/Deflate' (2006) presents a jungle of inflatable silk bodily organs, that "breathe" in a synchronized, cyclical group movement, like a grotesque parody of our own visceral existence.

There is certainly a lot to see in this exhibition and it is often colorful, strange, intriguing, disturbing, humorous, bizarre, and at times, beautiful. It's the kind of show one can enjoy on a purely experiential level, or take the time to mull over the artist's concepts of life, death, gender roles and emotional realities. A particularly thought-provoking work is the installation piece called 'The Boarders' (1971-1972).

















This is a collection of hundreds of dead small birds (like sparrows), clothed in tiny hand-knitted woolen jackets symbolizing healing and representing the nurturing role of women. I also found myself spending a lot of time looking closely at Messager's very striking large black and white close-up photographs of body parts such as an ear, foot, hand, mouth etc in her series 'My trophies' (1986 - 1988), on which she has painted strange and symbolic images that seem to tell dream-like stories.


In another room a 70-minute video of the artist discussing her work is shown, but unfortunately the language is French (with the audio levels set so low it's difficult to hear anyway) and the subtitles are only in Korean.


So if you want to know more about the artist you'll have to wait until you get home to search the Internet. You can read an in-depth interview with the artist here.

Surprisingly there were no exhibition catalogues or postcards available at the museum shop on the day I visited - a full month after the exhibition opening - although the staff did assure me they were "coming soon".

My friends and I left the MoCA feeling inspired and refreshed and we chose to stroll again through the leafy, green park back to the subway station. Even some days later, many of the images from the Annette Messager exhibition were still fresh in my mind, and the whole MoCA experience counts as one of the highlights of my time in Seoul so far. I strongly recommend that you too make the effort to get down to Seoul Grand Park and catch this unusual exhibition before June 15.


For more information visit www.moca.go.kr or call 02-2022-0600. The National Museum of Contemporary Art is located near Seoul Grand Park (Subway Line 4). For those who don't want to walk to the Art Museum there is a shuttle bus every 20 mins from Exit 4 of the Seoul Grand Park subway.

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The author of this blog, Penelope Thompson, is an Australian contemporary artist living in Korea who works in performance, installation and community art events. You can see her personal exhibition blog at penelopethompson.blogspot.com.

12X36 Lomography exhibition - Seoul, L.A. and Philadelphia

Just when you thought it was safe to give away that old film camera and go completely digital, Lomography pops up as a 'point & shoot' film camera phenomenon with a world-wide, almost cult -like, following. Before attending the opening of the '12x36- a local lens' photographic exhibition at Art Space Hue in early April, I had never even heard of the Russian-made Lomo camera nor the style of "shoot from the hip" photography termed Lomography, but I found myself being pleasantly surprised at the raw character, vibrant color and variety of the photographs on display.



In line with the philosophy of Lomography of "take your camera everywhere you go", and "use it anytime - day and night" a diverse group of 12 artists in Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Seoul, were each provided with a Lomo camera, loaded with only one 36-shot roll of 35 mm film. Their mission was to explore the theme of local space versus local culture in their particular cities. The artists then returned their exposed but unprocessed film which was then printed onto an enlarged 30"x36" contact proof sheet for exhibition, plus three photos were chosen by each of the artists as 11" by 14" prints. The unusual thing about this exhibition was that identical prints of all the photos were shown simultaneously in three galleries during April; Art Space Hue here in Seoul, the 222 Gallery in Philadelphia, and Gallery Revisited in Los Angeles. The exhibition curator, Benjamin Kaplan, wanted to compare the direct, tangible experience of three different urban spaces through the gallery shows in each city as well as via online exhibition. (Visit the exhibition website at 12X36.com).




The participating artists included: WK, Yangachi, Haelan Kim, and Yeji Yun from Seoul, Melissa Farley, Dan Murphy, Ted Passon, and Randall Sellers - all from Philadelphia, plus the Los Angeles artists; Andy Bruntel, Michael Hsiung, Estevan Oriol and Jessica Robbins. The artists were selected from a variety of backgrounds and were mostly not photographers, ensuring that this exhibition was in accord with the low-tech, high spontaneity ideals of Lomography.



Because of the small-size of the photographs it was more like looking at a spread of artist's "home" snapshots rather than the usual large format gallery display - but this meant that viewers were drawn into close quarters with the works, and the sense of sequencing and relative place and time of each of the images was preserved by the proof sheet format. Subjects varied from what looked like home birthday parties and informal shots of friends and family, to candid images of street life, posed portraits of L.A identities such as Snoop Dog, bleak realities of city housing projects or just the simplicity of a backyard lemon tree against a blue sky.


Examples of the Lomo cameras, (which were first invented in 1982 in Russia as a Soviet answer to the compact Japanese cameras of the day), were on display and/or for sale at the participating galleries. The exhibition was sponsored in part by the Lomographic Society International - which is described as a "far-reaching, international socio-cultural movement, using photography as a creative approach to communicate, absorb and capture the world". The society boasts over 500,000 international members, and offers a variety of accessible photographic competitions, real and virtual exhibitions, and publications. For more information about the background of Lomography, purchasing and using a Lomo camera, and to read the full story of the popular rise of this amazing little film camera see www.lomography.com.



While walking around the exhibition and admiring the "edginess" of most of the works, I still found myself thinking about all the hundreds of packets of snapshot photos I have had printed over the years (most of which are still languishing in cardboard boxes somewhere) and I have to admit I decided against buying a Lomo camera … for now, anyway.

The innovative photographic exhibition '12x36- a local lens' - April 4 - April 26 at Art Space Hue - Mijin bldg, 464-41, Seogyo Mapo Seoul 121-841. Check it out on line at www.12x36.com .
In Korea contact: Benjamin Kaplan 010-4757-7801 (English and Korean) Check out his Seoul contemporary art & culture site at www.thenativegaze.com
**NOTE**
If you're in Seoul and you want to buy a Lomo camera or just have a look at them and see the photos on display, there's now a dedicated Lomography shop near Hongik University at 362-14 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. They do speak English so give them a call on 02-326-0255 or visit website Lomography Seoul shop

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This blog author, Penelope Thompson, is an Australian contemporary artist living in Korea who works in performance, installation and community art events. You can see her blog at penelopethompson.blogspot.com.

International Creative Community (ICC), Ulsan

Ulsan, Korea.
The International Creative Community (I.C.C.) is a unique artist’s group founded in 2006 by Australian artist, Lainie Cooper and Ulsan-based Korean artist, Kim Chang Han. Their aim was to foster cultural exchange between artists of different countries through exhibitions, workshops and home-stay exchange programs. In June this year, 12 Australian artists visited Korea to participate in an exhibition in the prestigious Hyundai Art Gallery in Ulsan, as well as touring around Korea and participating in a variety of art seminars and workshops. During this time I met one of the visiting Australian artists and viewed the exhibition, and subsequently joined the group myself.

Membership of the I.C.C. is not limited only to Australians like myself, or Koreans – in fact there are also members from Canada, U.S.A., and England, and the ICC welcomes any emerging or established artists of any nationality to join as new members. This month, from December 11 - 20, the ICC is holding another international exhibition in the Bukgu Culture and Arts Center in Ulsan. The exhibition title is “Impressions from Afar – A Visitor’s Perspective”, reflecting the way that foreigners often view a new country with fresh eyes. Hence, the Korean artists are sharing artworks inspired by their overseas travels, with many interesting visions of foreign lands such as Africa, China, Australia, India and Europe, and the foreign artists are showing work based on their varied impressions of Korea.

Unlike the June ICC exhibition, when most of the foreign artworks were contributed by the visiting Australian artists, this time many of the foreign artists represented are actually resident here in Korea, which adds quite a different dimension. There are 3 foreign resident photographers – Kevin Pope, Katrina Baran and Kevin Copley showing their unique vision of the Korean people and landscape, as well as multi-media artist, Ryan Maclay displaying an installation inspired by the distinctive graphics and design features of Korean clothing. Other resident artists include Canadian painter David Macri, with his commemorative portrait of an uncle who died in the Korean War, and Australian painter/ writer Leah Broadby with some autobiographical works. Also included are paintings and ceramics sent over by some of the Aussie exchange artists inspired by their Korean visit in June 2007.


Of course I contributed to this exhibition as well, with last night’s opening performance entitled “Portrait of a Foreign Artist in Korea, 2007”, and an installation of the same name. During one part of my performance I actually emerged from a zipped up suitcase and proceeded to give an English lesson on the theme of ‘time is money’ (an action which should be readily understood by many a foreign teacher in Korea).

The I.C.C. ‘Impressions from Afar’ exhibition will run until Thursday December 20, 2007 at the Ulsan Bukgu Culture & Arts Center gallery, 1010, Saneop-ro, Bukgu, Ulsan. You can contact the Gallery on 052-219-7400, or for enquiries in English about the exhibition or ICC membership please contact Kim Chang han on 018 591-3338, or email: kchn@use.go.kr.

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The author of this blog, Penelope Thompson, is an Australian contemporary artist living in Korea who works in performance, installation and community art events. You can see her personal exhibition blog at penelopethompson.blogspot.com.

Behind the scenes at Busan MoMA

Last week I went behind the scenes at Busan Museum of Modern Art in Haeundae to find out what is on offer at this large and well-designed modern city gallery. Anyone interested in art will probably be familiar with the Busan Biennale centered every two years on this space, (the next Busan Biennale is due again in 2008), but outside of that major international event the Busan MoMA is still well-worth a regular visit.

When I first moved to Busan in 2003 both the gallery and the nearby subway station were named the Busan Metropolitan Museum of Art. Then, a little while back, I noticed the subway train announcements had changed to slightly pretentious sounding “Busan Museum of Modern Art”. On checking the gallery I found that not much had changed except the coffee shop had greatly improved! I asked the friendly Busan MoMA team of curators about the reasons behind the name change and found out that the previous title that had included the words “metropolitan museum” had been considered as sounding too much like an ordinary museum. The committee had wanted to put more focus on the modern art aspect, hence the choice of MoMA. However, that is not the end of the matter – for the 10th anniversary of the museum next year, the name of the gallery (and the subway station) will be changed yet again to Busan Museum of Art to encompass a greater range of art periods and styles!

The Busan MoMA has a permanent collection, a selection of which is always on show, plus there are usually a couple of other major exhibitions. There are also small gallery spaces – known as the ‘Citizen’s Gallery’ - downstairs in the basement section of the MoMA available for inexpensive rental to any local artist who would like to exhibit. I asked the curators for a special sneak preview of the next major exhibitions to be shown at the Busan MoMA: -

Starting Dec 7, 2007 and running until Feb 17, 2008 will be ‘vision & perspective’.
This is an annual exhibition for emerging local (and that means Busan) artists that celebrates its ninth anniversary this year. It will show the work of 4 up-and-coming artists; PARK Mi-kyoung, PARK Ja-hyun, BAE Ji-min, and LEE Won-ju, focusing on the individual artists’ originality, concept, and experimental spirit. The artwork ranges in style from colorful installation, large-scale contemporary ink portraits and landscapes to some interesting cartoon-style drawings by Park Mikyoung that are hard to classify!


Then from December 21, 2007 through February 17, 2008 there will be a major photographic exhibition, entitled ‘The Beauty of Baekje’ by one of the most famous photographers in Korea, Joon Choi. The artist has spent 3 years searching out historical art relics and landscapes related to the Baekje Dynasty period of Korea, and the exhibition will present 27 very large –scale gelatin silver prints on that theme.


Apart from the exhibitions, the gallery also has a gift store (including a selection of art books, some of which are in English) and a decent coffee shop where you can mull over your artistic inspirations. From time to time there are workshops and seminars for the public, but these are currently only in Korean language. However, the good news is that the Busan MoMA curators are interested in creating more ways for foreigners to participate in gallery activities. The newest curator, Mr. Gim Jun gi also has a mission to develop more public art projects, so we should see some new developments in the coming months. Anyone interested in getting more information about gallery programs, renting an exhibition space in the Citizen’s gallery, or suggesting activities for foreigners can contact the Busan MoMA. See the Busan MoMA website: http://www.busanmoma.org/02_infor/infor_01.jsp
or email Mr Gim Jun gi, curator at: artpd68@naver.com

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The author of this blog, Penelope Thompson, is an Australian contemporary artist living in Korea who works in performance, installation and community art events. You can see her personal exhibition blog at penelopethompson.blogspot.com.

Seoul International Experimental Arts Project -IEAF 2007

Last Saturday night I ventured into the Hongdae area of Seoul to experience the International Experimental Arts Project – a collection of European avant-garde artists from countries such as Germany, Finland, France, England, Switzerland, and Estonia presenting performance and multimedia works. Some of the works involved collaboration with Korean artists, including artists connected with KoPAS (Korean Performing Arts Spirit) who organise the Korea Experimental Arts Festival (KEAF) every year.

The last time I visited this funky arts area near Hongik University was in December 2005 when I was an invited performance artist for the KEAF 2005, but this time I was a merely one of the “culture vulture” spectators. In previous years the KEAF mixed local Korean and foreign artists together in one event, but this time a group of overseas foreign artists got their own separate three day “project” complete with seminar and two nights of performance art events (obviously someone has been writing some very successful funding applications!). I caught four shows in the Velvet Banana nightclub on Saturday night. It should have been six, but in typical Seoul fashion I was stuck in a traffic jam for an hour and a half!

First up was a German artist, Michael Steger who is described as a ‘conceptional’ artist in the programme booklet (is that an exceptional conceptual artist, perhaps?). Imagine if you can, a tall, thin, thirty-something man with a goatee beard prancing around in a bra, pink satin dress and black platform shoes. The performance is accompanied by free-form music played by a Korean musician on electric guitar using various pieces of cutlery. We are in an underground club, complete with all the usual black-painted exposed plumbing and steel mesh. The artist begins to ask the audience rhetorical questions (in English) about why they attend cultural events, and then moves onto the subject of why we eat meat. Later, in a Q & A session Steger answered questions about his performance: - “My performance ends with questions because we don’t have answers,” he said. He also commented that his wearing of a dress reflected the dual nature of a human being – male/female, and that he chose the pink color dress because it was like the color of meat, of ham.

Some of the other artists refused to answer such particular questions about their work, preferring instead to turn the question back to the audience “What do you think it means?” This is the essence of contemporary art – to provoke questions in the mind of the viewer rather than provide a neatly packaged answer, something that audience members unfamiliar with the genre may find uncomfortable or even unbearable. To appreciate contemporary art one must develop a high tolerance for ambiguity, and be simply prepared to think, and feel.

The following artist, Jouni Partanen from Finland, literally asked the audience to think – he distributed pieces of paper on which we were asked to write down the thing that is most precious to us, the thing we would not want to lose. After collecting the answers in a large envelope he then proceeded to pluck all the leaves from a large potted tree – like the way a lover plucks the petals from a daisy. “To care… not to care… to care… not to care…to care…” - on and on like a monotonous mantra for fifteen minutes until the last leaf came off on “not to care”. The artist walked off and that was the end of the performance, leaving the audience in a disturbing anticlimax, and the envelope of our precious dreams unopened. When asked later what would have happened if he had finished on “to care” Partanen did not make any specific comment other than that he “does care”.

Obviously artists do care about a lot of things, which is why they choose to do strange and sometimes risky things like experimental art. The last artist of the evening was a Swiss woman named Saskia Edens who presented quite a physically strenuous performance piece. On a gleaming white electric running machine she proceeded to first walk backwards, and then run faster and faster for thirty minutes. Dressed in a white dress and white stockings she maintained her cool European demeanour, even as a group of Korean video artists and musicians (Sakgayo) pounded out loud electronic music and sometimes screaming vocals to accompany the mix of live video and pre-recorded frenetic images projected onto the screen behind her.

The only thing that revealed Edens’ effort was the spreading blue and red stain on her white dress as her blue bead necklace and red disc earrings began to dissolve in her sweat about ten minutes into the performance. When the accessories had totally dissolved the artist stopped running. The process, whatever it had symbolised, was finished.

I found it interesting that the audience had watched and waited with amazing patience for thirty minutes, when they would not normally watch a person in a gym run on a running machine for more than a couple of minutes. There is something about live performance art that is real and visceral that holds our attention in a way that a video cannot do. Another German artist, Oliver Griem had shown a technically interesting video of performance art filmed in a European architectural space, however, the impact was just not the same, especially scheduled in between some very physical performance art pieces. It seemed as if the actual physical presence of the artist to press the play button for the video on his Powerbook was kind of superfluous. My definition of performance art is usually “any art form that involves the physical presence of the artist”, so I was left wondering if I should tighten up my definition a little!

The Korean part of the KEAF festival will continue in Hongdae from November 19 to 25, as a collection of performances and exhibitions by Korean artists in various nightclubs and gallery spaces. For anyone in the Seoul neighbourhood it’s well worth a look, as some of Korea’s better-known experimental artists will be presenting work. The website (sorry, only in Korean) is http://www.kopas2000.co.kr/2007keaf/index.html
Tel. 02 322 2852


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The author of this blog, Penelope Thompson, is an Australian contemporary artist living in Korea who works in performance, installation and community art events. You can see her personal exhibition blog at penelopethompson.blogspot.com.