Eglė Budvytytė and Marija Olšauskaitė, Song Sing Soil, 2023 ©Nam June
Paik Art CenterNam
June Paik Art Center presents a special exhibition “Humming Chorus”, as part of
the ‘NJP Commission’, through December 15.
The
‘NJP Commission’ is a new exhibition format presented by the Nam June Paik Art
Center. It was designed to present new productions by mid-career artists who deal
with significant agenda in contemporary art, and an in-depth look at their
perceptions of the art world, and, thus to demonstrate the museum’s
performativity.
A
total of four curators, including the curators from outside the Nam June Paik
Art Center, co-curated the exhibition, which enabled the expansion of artistic
contemplation, commissioning works by four artists that capture the crucial
issues of contemporary art.
Chan Sook Choi, THE
TUMBLE all that fall, 2024 ©Nam June Paik Art CenterThe cultural backgrounds of Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Eglė Budvytytė, Tetsuya Umeda, and Chan Sook Choi differ, as do their means of expression and attitudes, but they all interpret and express the contemporary conditions that they face using a unique artistic language. With undefined chance performances consisting of gestures and sound, the artists express solidarity with objects, nature, and other non-human entities. Further, in focusing on migration, ecology, and marginality, they present a polyphonic voice, with tumbleweeds, microorganisms, and robots of teapot and clams singing together.
Anne Duk Hee Jordan, We
Welcome Whatever Happens Next, 2024 ©Nam June
Paik Art CenterThe
exhibition’s title, “Humming Chorus,” stems from imagining each artist’s work
as a song consisting of diverse tones and voices and refers to their harmony,
though the sound and rhythm may differ.
The
artists reflect on the ecosystem and nature devastated by anthropocentric
practices, and, by expressing solidarity with the objects surrounding us, they
exhibit their identities as performative artists. Their works encourage
viewers/visitors to realize that museums are not merely spaces for the
“exhibition” of beauty but places for sharing today’s vital stories and
communicating them through art.
Ji Yeon Lee has been working as an editor for the media art and culture channel AliceOn since 2021 and worked as an exhibition coordinator at samuso (now Space for Contemporary Art) from 2021 to 2023.
