2020 Changwon
Sculpture
Biennale

The Spring of Changwon

Who is the first person that comes to mind when you think about one of the greatest, world-renowned Korean contemporary artists? To most, it is probably Nam-June PAIK who is known as a father of video art. PAIK passed away in 2006, but his work, “The Spring of Changwon,” is here to greet us at the Biennale. This piece was originally created in 2000 in celebration of the opening of Seongsan Art Hall. So, why is it here at the Biennale? The artwork is an embodiment of a fully blossomed flower made with Braun tube televisions. If you take a closer look, you will notice that clips of a performance by PAIK and a female artist are being shown on the TV screens. The performance, “TV Bra for Living Sculpture,” was conducted in New York in 1969 in collaboration with cellist Charlotte Moorman whom the artist called a living sculpture, which resonate with the theme of the Biennale, “Non-sculpture.” A cellist called as a living sculpture, a set of miniature television screens of the bra PAIK designed and named a TV bra, and a massive size of a video sculpture titled “The Spring of Changwon” featuring the living sculpture and the TV bra are examples of convergence, non-sculpture art that combines the elements of music & art, video & sculpture, or “not being a sculpture” and sculpture.