“When artists come together, incredible things can happen.”
The mega special exhibition ‘Puck: On and Off’ by the Global Artainer Group is being held in Itaewon, Seoul, from July 3 to September 22. While advancements in internet technology and industrial society have made our lives more comfortable, they have also led to various side effects in both online and offline worlds.
The exhibition, with the slogan “A crazy world, turned beautiful,” is designed to face the inconvenient and confusing problems of our time, prompting collective reflection on these changes. It aims to evolve the role of art from pure ‘self-discovery’ to embodying the ‘spirit of the times,’ led by the ‘Artainer Group,’ which consists of entertainers engaged in artistic activities.
The exhibit showcases 150 works of installation, sculpture, painting, sound, and video art from 30 artainers, including actor Johnny Depp, Nobel Laureate in Literature musician Bob Dylan, media art pioneer Nam June Paik, and prominent figures like Solbi, Kim Wan-sun, Gu Jun-yeop, Lee Min-woo, Jang Hye-jin, actors Ko Jun, Lee Tae-sung, and Jeon Hyun-moo, among others. The exhibition is themed around both online and offline experiences.
The online-themed exhibition area narrates the challenges of the ‘cyber world,’ focusing particularly on the chaos brought about by social media and the serious issue of cyberbullying. It features works of 13 artists, including singers Solbi, Kim Wan-sun, Gu Jun-yeop, actors Go Jun, Park Yoon, and Jeon Hyun-moo.
The offline-themed exhibition area addresses ‘plastic pollution and climate crisis.’ In collaboration with the international environmental organization Greenpeace, this segment showcases the seriousness of plastic pollution, envisioning a future free of plastic and a utopia connected to nature. It features 21 artainers, including singers Jang Hye-jin, Hwang Chan-sung, Lee Min-woo, architect Kim Kyung-hoon, and designer Jang Wan-kyu (Zinga).
The exhibition’s director, Lee Jung-kwon, stated, “The purpose of this exhibition is to link the ‘self-healing’ activities of artainers into a grouped network movement, ensuring that art leads to positive social contributions in contemporary society. Artainers are new entities, separate from the existing art community. Their activities will function more positively when seen as a new group carrying social messages rather than as a challenge to the established art market.”
Art critic An Hyun-jung remarked, “We now speak of Bong Joon-ho and Freeze Seoul in the same breath. In an age dominated by a FLEX culture that reveals all, the hybrid, subjective activities of artainers should serve as the motivation to distill ‘the times and me’ into a pure perspective, as we navigate the world of ‘main’ and ‘sub’ characters. In a way, artainers could be seen as the self-portrait of our contemporary society.”
Kim Na-ra, a Greenpeace plastic campaigner, commented, “The problem caused by indiscriminate production of single-use plastics has long infiltrated our lives. Microplastics have even been found in human blood and breast milk; thus, plastic pollution is now an unavoidable issue. We hope this exhibition encourages the public to think about the severity of plastic pollution and potential solutions.”
This exhibition will run from July 3 (5 PM) until September 22 for over 80 days. Every Saturday night, under the theme ‘Art Night,’ various musicians will join the exhibition for performances and parties. In consideration of the environmental theme, the use of disposable plastics in the exhibition space will be minimized.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace has been campaigning since 2022 for a strong production-reduction goal to be included in an international plastic treaty. UN member states have been negotiating since 2022 to establish a legally binding international treaty on plastics, with four meetings held so far. The final fifth meeting will take place in Busan this November. Greenpeace demands the South Korean government support a robust international plastic treaty that includes a minimum 75% reduction in plastic production, as the host country of the final meeting and a member of the alliance advocating for such a treaty.
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr