Bernard Pras produces Hangeul-inspired works
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Bernard Pras sits next to his artwork on the stairs of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul. / Courtesy of Woowa Brothers
By Yun Suh-young
On the stairs of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, there lies a peculiar installation that makes passersby stop and wonder "What is that?"
At first sight, the work seems like a collection of abandoned items put together to form an image, but unless you look closely you have no idea what it is supposed to be.
When you peer through the eyeglass installed in front of the work, you finally get a focused view of the whole picture ― an image of King Sejong created and surrounded by a variety of items from nickel-silver pots, brassware, toys, pieces of brooms, bicycles seats and delivery motorbikes and so on. In the middle of it all it says, "What kind of a nation are we?" in Hangeul, the Korean writing system.
The work is of French installation artist Bernard Pras, who visited Seoul to put the piece together in commemoration of the 570th birthday of Hangeul. The exhibit was revealed on Oct. 19, 10 days after Hangeul Day which marks the creation of the Korean writing system by King Sejong. Although the installation work came late, it will stay for three weeks to commemorate the phonetic symbol set. The work is located diagonally across from the King Sejong statue in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul.
Pras was invited by Woowa Brothers which operates Korea's largest food-delivery mobile service startup, Baedal Minjok or "Delivery Nation."
"Woowa Brothers have regularly funded and collaborated with various artists as a means to promote Korean culture. For this particular exhibit, we were curious to see how Korean culture would be interpreted through the eyes of a French installation artist," said Ryu Jin, head of communications at Woowa Brothers.
"This artwork is not a huge exhibition but will allow visitors to stop and pause for a while to enjoy a work of art during their busy lives. That's why it's exhibited here on the stairs of this arts hall as part of public art."
Pras arrived on Oct. 4 and worked on the project for two weeks before revealing the final work on Oct. 19. The exhibit will be on view until Nov. 6.
Upon arriving in Seoul, Pras collected items for his artwork from various locations in Seoul, from Insa-dong and Euljiro to Namdaemun and Dongdaemun markets.
Pras is known for his anamorphic art which tricks the eye. His work plays with the perspective of viewers and can be flexibly interpreted and viewed depending on which angle the audience observes it from. His previous works include portraits or full figures of Einstein, Jesus, Van Gogh, Mickey Mouse and Batman to name a few.
The phrase, "What kind of a nation are we?" embedded in the artwork sums up the theme for this exhibit and is a question posed to the viewers as well as an indirect promotion of the startup company, as it uses the same phrase as its marketing slogan.