Also known as Media_City Seoul, the International Media Art Biennale is now in its fifth year. It will attempt to answer the questions of what media art encompasses and how it differs from traditional art.
The exhibit shows the expansion of the ambit of visual art caused by new media art. This year’s event is titled “Turn and Widen.” Sixty-nine artists from 26 different countries are participating, with 77 works on display.
Light, Communication, and Time
"Turn and Widen" features three distinct themes: Light, Communication and Time.
- The Light section features media artworks showcasing light technology in art. Neon art, moving lights, laser art and holograms are incorporated in the artwork.
- The Communication section exhibits a shift in how art is delivered and consumed. It will deal with artworks that give various sensory experiences through hearing, smell and touch – displaying how art is becoming more interactive as artists attempt to appeal to their audience through senses other than visual.
- The Time section features artworks with themes of changing images through the passage of time. It is a collection of video art/animation and artworks with moving images.
Looking at the PastFor the first time, the biennale will feature an archive that shows past artwork and participant profiles in both online and offline formats. The archives will be located on the first floor of the Seoul Museum of Art.
"The 5th biennale is significant in retracing our prior exhibitions for preparation of the next decade. Therefore, it aims at asking fundamental and essential questions such as: What is media art? What is the difference between traditional art and media art? What changes in art have been caused from this and what kind of effects will this bring? It will also attempt to find out the answers of these questions through the exhibition of various media artworks,' said Ilho Park, the director of the biennale.
The Organizers
The director of this year's biennale is Ilho Park, a current Associate Professor at Ewha Womans University and active art critic. He held media art exhibitions such as "Science in Art" and "2002 Media Art - Daejeon, New York: Special Effects."
The exhibition is curated by four foreign art professionals – Maarten Bertheux, Tohru Matsumoto, Raúl Zamudio, and Andreas Broeckmann. Born in Netherlands, Bertheux has been curator of the Stedelijk Museum since 1986. Matsumoto has been curator of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo since 1980. Broeckmann is an art historian and curator who lives in Berlin. He was the artistic director of transmediale - festival for art and digital culture berlin (2000-2007), and of the Laboratory for Arts and Media, TESLA (2005-2007). Zamudio is a New York-based independent curator and art critic. He has organized close to 50 solo and group exhibitions in museums, galleries, and art fairs in the U.S., Europe, Mexico, and China including video and new media exhibitions at DIVA/Digital and Video Art Fairs in New York and Miami.
Directions to the Venue
The Seoul Museum of Art is near City Hall Station, line No 1 or 2, exit 1. Admission is free of charge. A complete list of the artists and their works is available online.
Also, as an affiliated program, there will be an international symposium titled "Turn of Medium Widens Aesthetic Experience' on Sept. 11 at the lecture hall of the Seoul Museum of History. Douglas Kellner, professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, will lecture on the changes in the notion of art brought about by the digitalization of culture. Oliver Grau, professor at Danube University Krems, will lecture on the theorization of new media art and the necessity to build archives from a more practical perspective.
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