“Rubber Duck Project Seoul 2022” by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman and “National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) Hyundai Motor Series 2022: Little Ark” by Choe U-Ram show that recent works of art are no longer flat and stationary, but rather huge and mobile. Furthermore, “Handshake” by Swiss and French artist AATB and “P.O.REST” by Jeho Yoon at Seoul Art & Tech Festival Unfold X 2022 include non-industrial robots and audiovisual images, showing that the art industry has even started to include the latest technology.
These various art collections that have gained public interest show that the art industry is facing some rapid change, along with the interference of technological advancement.
Professor Kim Nam-see from the Graduate School of Division of Fine Arts shared his thoughts on the recent trend in contemporary fine arts. Kim, who studied for his bachelor’s and master’s degree in Aesthetics at Seoul National University and Humboldt University of Berlin for his doctorate in Cultural Studies, is currently teaching aesthetics, art theory, and culture theory to graduate school students at Ewha.
When asked about the trend of modern art, Kim answered that the performance of contemporary artists has a wide range.
“Kinetic art is considered a relatively new field, as it started in the 1900s followed by the invention of machines,” Kim said. “These days, many works of art are based on further developed technology, such as artificialintelligence, the Metaverse, and even computer games.”
Kim exemplified some artwork grafted with computer games, where artists present creations in existing games such as Roblox or Minecraft. Some artists even create their own game tools with concepts of the Metaverse, where the audience communicate and play to reach goals set by the artists, sometimes even including messages related to social issues.
Kim explained that not only works related to games but also many other rapidly developing technologies could be seen at the recent Seoul Art & Tech Festival Unfold X 2022 at the Seongsu S-factory by Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture (SFAC).
The festival, prepared under the theme “Shaping the Future,” was based on three main concepts: Data Fantasy, Uncertain Species, and Mata-Scape. The presented artwork included the latest technology such as data algorithms, machine learning, and interaction robots, by artists from various backgrounds . SFAC described the festival as “a site for domestic and foreign art & tech organizations to cooperate and present their work at the largest scale.”
This type of new trend in art is not only influenced by technological advancement, but also the activation of the internet and social media.
“One of the most significant changes the internet has brought to artists is the extremely widened range of experience,” Kim emphasized. “Artwork is easily influenced by the experience and emotion of the artists, and in the current world where indirect experience of practically ‘everything’ is possible, the localistic trait of many artists is diminishing.”
Not only this, but social media has also allowed active interaction between the artists and audience, changing the traditional distribution structure of artwork. These days, people interested in pieces of artwork can directly contact the artist, instead of via the artist’s gallery or agency.
In terms of audience manners, Kim noted that the eased policies on taking photos at art museums has further led to the activation of art as a way to enjoy cultural life. Nowadays, people no longer visit art museums and galleries just to view the artwork, but to enjoy being at the space itself and being able to capture the moment, most people going further to sharing it on social media. Kim recollected his experience of actually feeling the increase of audience at art museums and galleries, in which those included couples and families who made casual visits to enjoy art as a culture on weekends.
“Although it is difficult to ignore the downsides to the advancement of the internet and social media such as plagiarism issues, I personally think there are larger advantages, as it has raised the popularity of art in general,” Kim said.
Kim moved on to comment on the expected trend of contemporary artists.
“Artists in general are people who respond sensitively to social changes, meaning that big changes in the current period will affect artists in one way or another,” Kim examined.
The rapidly changing world with advanced development of technology will continuously affect artists who enjoy challenges, such as the various artists at Doosan Art Center and MMCA. Audiovisual production artist eobchae’s recent exhibition “eoracle” presented their speculative thoughts on the Blockchain through computing devices and small screens. Choe U-Ram’s “Little Ark,” a performance type exhibition at MMCA, questions the current society, focusing on various issues including climate change, class politics, and the post-pandemic society.
On the other hand, there will also be retro artists appearing, pursuing the traditional trends of painting and sculpture such as Kim Juree’s “Time of the Earth,” a exhibition using huge lumps of dirt to represent the traditional “matter” existing on the Earth.
“I believe art plays the role of overlooking social changes and issues from a step away, relieving the impacts and providing objectivity,” Kim emphasized. “Art gives the audience a chance to deeply consider everyday life changes, and therefore its development is interlocked with the society itself.”