GyeongGi Cultural Foundation

Nam June Paik Art Center <Silent Future>, the first special exhibition in 2020

Let me know! GGC (Gyeong Gi Culture) brings together the news of Gyeonggi Province's culture and arts and delivers it to citizens.


On the upcoming Friday, we will quickly inform you of exhibitions, performances, and festivals all over Gyeonggi Province! If you are curious about the culture news that is always close to us, <Sungyong Park's Sisapocha-Let me know! Listen to GGC>. This radio program is hosted by GyeonGi Cultural Foundation with Gyeongin Broadcasting (90.7MHz).


○ Sungyong Park: This is the time for ‘Gyeong Gi Culture' <Tell Me~ GGC>, which quickly conveys the cultural news of Gyeonggi Province. We are together every Friday. Let's meet Reporter Park full of bright energy. Hello. Reporter Park.


▶ Suyoung Park: Hello! This is Suyoung Park, a ‘Culture News Messenger’ that quickly delivers cultural news such as various exhibitions and performances in Gyeonggi-do. This time, I would like to introduce Nam June Paik Art Center's first special exhibition in 2020. Let’s guess what kind of exhibition it is by listening to the “Perfect Chorus” by Woojin Kim.


[Part of ‘Korean Dictation’ by Woojin Kim]

Perfect chorus voice


▲ Kim Woojin, <Perfect Chorus>, 2019 4-channel HD video, 5min 12sec


▶ Suyoung Park: Do you have a sense of what kind of exhibition it is?


○ Sungyong Park: Um... Is this an exhibition related to Korean folk songs?


▶ Suyoung Park: The title of the exhibition is ‘Silent Future: The Moment When One Language Disappears'. The ‘Perfect Chorus’ by Woojin Kim, which I just heard, is a video footage based on the Jeju dialect, which is on the verge of extinction. The Jeju haenyeo song masters and Jeju haenyeos come out and sing, and each and every one disappears, leaving only the sound of the sea. In other words, it shows that with the disappearance of Jeju language, the form of life called haenyeo disappears, but after seeing the work, I thought more.


○ Sungyong Park: As the title of the exhibition, it shows ‘the moment when one language disappears'. We heard it with the sound for a while, but if you look at the video, it will be grim and I think I will have a lot of thoughts. In fact, language is also called identity itself.


▶ Suyoung Park: That's right. In fact, this exhibition began with novelist Kim Ae-ran's short novel, “The Future of Silence.” This exhibition was planned with the idea that the disappearance of language is the death of one person, and has the same title as the novel. I will listen to curator Kim Yoon-seo in detail about the exhibition.


[Interview/ Curator Yunseo Kim]


“This exhibition started with a novel in which language is the speaker. So, in this exhibition, “language” presupposes the fact that it controls and forms an identity of our bodies and thoughts. Actively active in New York, London, Sydney, Paris and Beirut as well as Korea to capture the voices of various writers I invited 8 writers who are doing. So, 8 videos, 3 installations, a total of 11 works are exhibited.”


○ Sungyong Park: It is said that it is based on the premise that language dominates our bodies and thoughts and constitutes our identity. I'm worried about hearing this. You said that the Jeju dialect was on the verge of extinction. Is it a lot serious?


▶ Suyoung Park: Yes, it's so serious that UNESCO has included Jeju as a world language in danger of disappearing. I will take a time for Korean listening test like the English listening test to see how much you hear when you hear it.


[Part of ‘Korean Dictation’ by Woojin Kim]

Listen while dictating.


▲Kim Woojin, <Korean Dictation>, 2019 4 channel HD video, 5 minutes 26 seconds


○ Sungyong Park: Wow... I don't know anything. It's difficult.


▶ Suyoung Park: I hardly understood it either. “The moment when one language disappears” came in contact with my skin! Some writers focused on the language that is in danger of disappearing or extinguishing like the title of the exhibition, while others focused on the power of the language of English, which many people use around the world.


[Interview/Curator Yunseo Kim]


“The three different works of Jessie Chun are shown as installation, unvoiced consonant, and video work. The title of this video is ‘workbook'. We are studying like we are learning English. The author brings English as a form of learning such as TOEFL study paper, TOEIC, and video, and the author shows English as learning.”


▶ Suyoung Park: I felt like I was taking a test, so I instinctively tried to get away from this sound. There were also writers who focused on special languages such as sign language and Braille language. Artist Moon Jae-won's work called “The Wizard of Oz”, which uses 50,000 Lego bricks to express the “Mage of Oz” movie script in Braille, is a new work for this exhibition.


○ Sungyong Park: It is said that it was newly produced for this exhibition, so I am more excited. Now it goes beyond ‘voice language' to ‘braille language'. Do you have any body language to express yourself?


▶ Suyoung Park: Are you very keen? Of course there is. It is Angelica Messiti's “Color of Speech”, a work on non-verbal communication that proposed a new way and perspective on body language, music, and silence. It is also recommended by Curator Yunseo Kim.


▲ Angelica Messiti, <Color of Horses>, 2015 3-channel HD video, color, sound, 25 minutes


[Interview/Curator Yunseo Kim]


“It is highly recommended to see the large-scale video installation called “The Color of Horses” by Angelica Messiti, an artist based in Paris and Sydney. This video is shown on three large screens. It focuses on living body, music, and silence based on performance. ‘The color of words’ shows that the way of speaking like the title is countless and beautiful. Angelica Messiti is also an internationally recognizable writer who participated in the 2019 Venice Biennale as the representative of the Australian National Pavilion.”


○ Sungyong Park: I'm really curious because you say that I recommend you to see it. What works does Reporter Park recommend for this exhibition?


▶ Suyoung Park: In fact, this exhibition was especially difficult as I prepared for the broadcast because each piece remained in my memory and I wanted to tell more stories within a short broadcast time. We recommend all the works of ‘The Silent Future: The Moment When One Language Disappears. ‘ If you take enough time to think about the artist's intentions and look at them, you will be impressed with each work!


○ Sungyong Park: Will you come out like this? Are you impressed or do you have any work that you just remember?


▶ Suyoung Park: I think of a work that focuses on the language of computers, AI.. artificial intelligence. I was very impressed to reveal human thoughts through such artificial intelligence language.


○ Sungyong Park: It's amazing that this work focuses on the language of artificial intelligence. I'm enjoying the cultural life indirectly these days thanks to reporter Suyoung Park every Friday! Is this exhibition currently available online?


▶ Suyoung Park: Yes, that's right. You can enjoy this exhibition of Nam June Paik Art Center, which is currently closed, on the Art Center website. I will hear from Curator Yunseo Kim for more details.


▲ Lawrence Abu Hamdan, <The Controversy>, 2019

14 laser cut dioramas,7 texts,7×10×6 cm each_2019



[Interview/ Curator Yunseo Kim]


“I am going to meet you late at the Nam June Paik Art Center for the first special exhibition in 2020, ‘The Future of Silence: The Moment When One Language Disappears'. We hope that those viewing the exhibition will be able to recognize and encounter the presence of various speakers who speak each language in the landscape of various languages. Visit the Nam June Paik Art Center homepage and watch the special exhibition “The Future of Silence: The Moment When One Language Disappears” in the exhibition tour video, and leave your impressions on the exhibition. ”


○ Sungyong Park: It was a meaningful time to think about language. The work introduced today was very interesting. Nam June Paik Art Center is temporarily closed due to Corona 19, so if you are curious about the exhibition, please join us through the exhibition tour video on the Nam June Paik Art Center website.


▶ Suyoung Park: I hope you will pay a lot of attention.




Please refer to the official website for details.


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