By Ines Min
Staff reporter
Arko Art Center opened its second exhibition of the year last week in Daehangno with "Memoryscape," an interactive assemblage that features the treasures of 80 collectors and eight artists.
Works by Yoon Jeong-mee, An Se-eun and Choi Eun-hyo are on display, as well as typewriters, vintage cars, miniature bottles of Korean alcohol and even plants. The showcase avoids the space requirement of a football field to house the works, however, by placing focus on the intimate act of collecting, rather than the collection itself.
The showcase is broken into two exhibition halls, with the first half peering into the lives of others through simple visual representation. Walking into the lower gallery, one is greeted with hanging posters, forming meters-long aisles of accrued scraps and items. Each collection is once removed, giving viewers an opportunity to look at the amassed pieces as opposed to each component.
"Memoryscape is an exhibition that brings the act of collecting to a public realm to share it as an artistic experience," said Lim Jin-young, a former editor-in-chief of SPACE magazine. "It questions how an experience as personal as possessing something can be a medium for communication with others."
The collectors _ selected from applications gathered online and through other networks _ are able to share their passion because their work serves as the embodiment of it. Collections not only record the passing of time, but capture the personality and progress of their creator in that span.
"These books are a part of mountaineering," said Byun Gi-tae about his collection of more than 5,000 publications relating to mountains and hiking. The climber began his archive in high school, when he bought a monthly hiking magazine to learn where the best trails were. "You could say that it's part of my love for hiking. The books have a large significance because they're a tool that helps enrich mountain climbing, and makes me able to go for longer and have it be fun."
The exhibition also persuades visitors of the significance of the deed with activities. Featured artist An Se-eun installed "Bittersweet Memory," a growing work comprised of participant's contributions. Visitors can create a pharmaceutical pill-kit with an assortment of sweets with names like "Hometown," "First Kiss" and "Death." The bag is then added to the artwork that stretches across the expansive walls, as the participant becomes part of the collection.
In the second exhibition hall, work from the eight artists are presented in a typical gallery style, but is almost jarring in the sudden confrontation of images that were viewed only in 2D poster-form not moments before.
Pieces include "The Library of Babel" by Han Junglim, which is a wall-sized mural comprised of torn and reassembled art brochures, and photos by Yoon Jeong-mee, known for her color series depicting a collector amid an organized tangle of monotone belongings. "Receipt Roll" by Choi Eun-hyo is also on display, which is a roll of delicate paper in which the artist has meticulously recreated the history of old receipts.
"Memoryscape" is on display through June 27 at the Arko Art Center. Located near Hyehwa Station exit 2 on subway line 4. Visit www.arkoartcenter.or.kr.