Listen to a Festival of Sound Art in Seoul
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
When people go to art festivals, they usually expect to see visually stimulating paintings and sculptures. But at the upcoming "Sound Effects Seoul 2010: Sound Specific (SFX Seoul)," people are invited to listen.
"SFX Seoul," the third international sound art festival organized by Sound Art Korea, opens Friday evening with a ceremony at Space Hamilton, Hannam-dong.
``This year's festival focuses on intimate relations between sound and the place where it is heard, featuring artists from Australia, Taiwan and Korea, in a series of exhibitions, discussions and live performances,'' Sound Arts Korea said in a statement.
Sound Arts Korea was formed in 2006 by Baruch Gottlieb and Ji Yoon Yang with the goal of promoting sound art in Korea. Gottlieb is an artist and taught for three years as a Media Art professor at Yonsei University Graduate School of Communication and Arts, while Yang is a curator specializing in sound arts and media performance.
For the festival, the artists explored the intimate relationship between a place and its sound, with Seoul as the backdrop.
``In 'SFX Seoul Sound Specific,' we invited our international selection of artists to consider the relation between sounds and space, the space of the city, the space of the exhibition, the sounds of the space and the sounds passing through the space, an alternative way to experience architecture and structures of urbanity,'' organizers said.
Works by Alice Hui-Sheng Chang, Yangachi (featuring Ryu Han-kil and Kwon Euy-hyun) and Kim Seoung-young + Oh Youn-seok will be featured through Jan. 31 at Space Hamilton.
Chang, an artist from Taiwan, creates works that focus on extended vocal techniques ``in hope of evoking a psychological connection to indescribable feelings.''
Kim and Oh collaborated on their sound sculptures and installations.
Yangachi is known for his large-scale narrative installations combining radio, video, sculpture, designer objects, text and Web-based elements. His ``Middle Corea'' project, which follows the virtual story of the Kim family, sniper Cha Ji-ryan and the Savior, is part of the festival.
Meanwhile, Australian artist Geoff Robinson will be showing his works at KT&G Sangsangmadang Gallery in Hongdae through Feb. 10. He is known for his ``surround sound audio landscape structures that combine sculptural and media-art techniques in a unique form of performative documentation,''
Robinson chose a particular place in Seoul to build his recording structure, capturing the sounds of the city. The physical structure will be recreated and the recordings to be played in the gallery.
The first "SFX Sound Effects Seoul" was staged in 2007, with exhibitions, performances, workshops and conferences. The following year, "SFX Radio 2008" featured two international exhibitions and a temporary terrestrial radio station, live performances and a conference.
This year's "SFX Seoul" will also have a forum on sound art on Jan. 13, at 2 p.m. on the 4th floor of KT&G Sangsangmadang, and live performances at 7 p.m., on the B1 level of the same building.
Space Hamilton is open from noon to 8 p.m., while KT&G Sangsangmadang is open from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Both are closed on Mondays. Visit https://sfxseoul.org.