국립현대미술관

The eight artists and collectives in SWITCH THINGS UP combine their sharpened expertise and the unique physical properties of various material to create a harmonious language of objects. In that sense, they are 'makers' or the 'playing human(homo ludens)'. Based on their accumulated memories and experiences of dealing with various materials, the makers propose unfamiliar but pleasant rules for new relationships and uses in the world, by their unique processes of measuring weight and distance. At times, they add imagination to these processes to share their inner world that lies beyond functional purposes or propose fantastical spaces that take a temporary detour from reality.

The makers encourage us not to be weighed down by the excessive seriousness that comes with the increasingly sophisticated principles and systems of our society. Experimenting with other uses while maintaining the ordinary perspective on objects, the makers shake up our judgement or help us maintain a balanced sense of everyday life.

This exhibition transports the makers' personal play and work processes to the public space of the art museum, as it invites the audience to rediscover the new sphere of play and to imagine a different self. It also makes us realize how dull and flat human life can be without play, how hungry and thirsty we are when we don't play, and how helpless human beings feel when they cannot play.

SWITCH THINGS UP presents a garden of play where the viewers have the opportunity to experiment with the different aspects of life, traverse across constructive boundaries, and form new relationships.