Korean Air Box Project is a
long-term project that organizes displays of installation artworks by renowned
artists from around the world in Seoul Box, the central exhibition space of
MMCA, Seoul. Celebrating the experimental spirit of contemporary art and presenting
a new vision for the future, the project chose Yangjiang Group (active since
2002) from China to be the next artists to showcase their works in 2016.
Yangjiang Group is preparing diverse installation, performance, and interactive
artworks based on the themes of writing and tea drinking.
Zheng Guogu, Chen Zaiyan, and Sun
Qinglin, the three artists who make up the group, have been highly active on
the international stage, displaying their works at such major events as the
2002 Gwangju Biennale, 2003 Venice Biennale, and 2007 Kassel Documenta. These
artists have been drawing considerable international attention with their
large-scale installation works and diverse interactive programs for audiences
in their hometown of Yangjiang, located in China's Guangdong Province.
Their latest project, entitled
Calligraphy Is the Way to Communicate with the Most Primal Power, will feature
four participatory and interactive workshop-style performance works based on
topics such as “After Dinner
Calligraphy” and “Tea and
Incense Ceremony”, continuously transforming the
appearance of Seoul Box throughout the year. Calligraphy, a highly valued part
of East Asian tradition, will be revived through a unique reinterpretation,
where the artists will invite visitors to enjoy a large meal together and use
the leftovers to perform calligraphy. There will also be a workshop on tea
drinking, offering an opportunity for visitors to share and enjoy traditional
teas of China together. Yangjiang Group hopes that these activities will enable
visitors to share their joy and interact with one another actively and freely.
Visitors will be encouraged to join in the process of creating art and reaffirm
solidarity through participation, without the dichotomies between China and the
rest of the world, between the traditional and the modern, and between art and
daily lives.
Throughout the exhibition, Seoul Box Archive will feature a documentary
showing the daily activities and artistic processes of Yangjiang Group in their
studio as well as interviews with the artists.
