Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Seoul turns outdoor screens into citywide art gallery for Kiaf
Media artist JE BAAK’s “Universe” appears on an outdoor screen in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul will turn eight downtown media screens into a sprawling outdoor gallery next month, bringing works by four artists to commuters and visitors as Kiaf Seoul expands beyond its traditional home at COEX.
The “Media Art Seoul × Kiaf” special exhibition will run from Tuesday through Sept. 19, with the same two-minute program playing simultaneously every hour at eight locations in and around Gwanghwamun.
The works will appear on five privately operated outdoor screens, including KT Square, K-Vision at Koreana Hotel, Lumi Media, LUUX and Ilmin Museum of Art, as well as three city media platforms.
The screens will operate from 6 am to midnight, with the media facades at Atelier Nodeul and Atelier Gwanghwa running from 7 pm to 11 pm.
The four artists selected by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Galleries Association of Korea are JE BAAK, Seok Chang-woo, Jeon Hye-ju and Han Seung-gu.
Their works — “Universe,” “Breath of Ink,” “The Birth of a New Flower” and “Mirrormask: The Self Beyond the Boundary” — will run for 30 seconds each as part of the two-minute program.
Kiaf Seoul, Korea’s first international art fair, began in 2002 and will hold its 25th edition at COEX from Wednesday through Sept. 6.
At the fair, a separate “Media Art Seoul” installation will place real green barley in front of an 8-meter-by-3.6-meter screen, with fans creating movement that mirrors the digital landscape.
Visitors will be able to experience the work through sight, scent and wind as the physical barley moves alongside its video counterpart.
Other city platforms will present additional works, including seven pieces at Atelier Nodeul, works by Han Seung-gu and Hong Na-gyeom at Atelier Gwanghwa, and seven pieces using ink, light and color at Haechi Madang Media Wall.
A mobile docent service will also offer artwork descriptions and AI-generated and Haechi-narrated audio through QR codes placed near the exhibition sites.
Choi In-kyu, Seoul’s design policy officer, said the city would expand collaborations with art events to make media art part of everyday life and develop it as cultural and tourism content.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.