"Art is an act that contributes to perception, not merely the pursuit of simple pleasure"

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul, Media Art Artist Peter Weibel Exhibition
Co-planned Exchange Exhibition with Karlsruhe Center for Art and Media (ZKM), Germany
Over 70 Works Including Installations Completed Through Visitor Participation

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] "This exhibition is not simply about pursuing enjoyment but an act that contributes to perception. It is an exhibition that shows art as both the artist's act and the audience's participatory act."

"Art is an act that contributes to perception, not merely the pursuit of simple pleasure"

On the morning of the 2nd, attendees are viewing artworks at the press conference for the exhibition "Peter Weibel: Art as Cognitive Act" held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, in Jongno-gu, Seoul. The retrospective exhibition exploring the artistic world of media conceptual artist Peter Weibel will be held until May 14. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) is holding the exchange exhibition "Peter Weibel: Art as Cognitive Act," co-curated with the ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe in Germany, at the Seoul branch until May 14.

Peter Weibel (79), a media conceptual artist, was born in Odesa, Ukraine. In the 1960s, he studied medicine and mathematical logic at the University of Vienna, Austria, and began collaborating with behaviorist group artists, initiating his video work. He is an artist, curator, and theorist who has mainly stood out in the field of media art.

At a press conference held on the 2nd, Weibel explained the background of the exhibition through video, stating, "Media and media art are not simply images or media that reproduce images but means of production," and "Media are extensions of our sensory organs and artificial sensory organs through which we perceive and also produce the world."

As an artist who freely crosses between art and science, he continues to expand his awareness of issues through various materials, forms, and technologies.

This exhibition introduces about 70 representative works of the artist, from records of his performance art in the 1960s and 1970s to recent interactive audience participation-based works.

His works reflect social changes from the late 20th century to the early 21st century and challenged conventional views on art at the time. Based on a deep interest in early media development, language theory, mathematics, and philosophy, he expanded his unique artistic world and further addressed themes such as experimental literature, performance, deconstructionism, and experimental film.

On the morning of the 2nd, the artist's video was screened at the press conference for the exhibition "Peter Weibel: Art as Cognitive Act" held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

From his early works, he has critiqued mechanical devices such as typewriters, records, magnetophones, photography, film, and video, experimenting with all areas of art based on these and raising questions about the ontological difference between image and reality.

Starting in 1966, Weibel included interactive elements in his works, actively proposing communication and participation with the audience. Unable to visit Korea due to health reasons, Weibel said in a video message, "Art is both the act of the artist and the act of the audience," adding, "Through this exhibition, I want to show that art is an act."

One of his works featured in the exhibition, the 1967 piece "Self-Portrait as a Woman," shows the artist covering his eyes and mouth with newspaper and advertisement photos, transforming his image in various ways. It evokes today's augmented reality applications. The 1967 work "Information Unit" is a montage based on the imagination of a radio the size of an electric shaver equipped with functions such as a camera, portable small wireless transceiver, speaker, video camera, television, and telephone, reminiscent of modern smartphones with these functions implemented.

The exhibition is mainly held in the rarely publicly shown multi-dimensional space of the museum. The entrance to the multi-dimensional space is composed mainly of Weibel's early photographs and video works from the 1960s, and the highlight of the exhibition, "Melody of Plurality" (1986?1988), can be viewed here.

"Melody of Plurality" is a work combining video, photography, film, and computer media, where digital technology and special effects invite various different elements into the audiovisual plurality of the technological era, a "multiverse."

The digital special effects anthology that Weibel collected and organized over about two years from 1986 to 1988 visualizes the technological transitions of the world over the past two centuries, from the wheel-based Industrial Revolution to the data-based post-industrial Information Revolution era. The process of technological transition is presented through 11 large screens suspended from the ceiling.

The 2017 work "YOU:R:CODE" contains meanings that change depending on the perspective of viewing the letter 'R.' If read as "your code," it means the audience experiences various digital transformation forms through the work; if interpreted as "you are code," it conveys the message that one is composed of a kind of code.

This exhibition is an exchange exhibition between the ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe in Germany and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, with a conceptual artist Kim Sunkie’s exhibition being held at ZKM.

Yun Bum-mo, director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, said, "It is meaningful to introduce Peter Weibel’s artistic world to Korean audiences for the first time through this exchange exhibition," adding, "We will continue new attempts to widely promote Korean contemporary art internationally and actively introduce overseas contemporary art domestically through mutual cooperation with international institutions."