Episode 59: The Person Who Sees the Future
Kang Lim went up to the studio after having lunch with his friends.
All the students from the sculpture department were sitting at the communal desk because it was Professor Koo Haeyoung’s class in the afternoon.
Though he had never lost his temper or harshly criticized anyone, his aura made the students work diligently.
‘I respect him too… I guess others feel the same way.’
Kang Lim was deeply regretful that he couldn’t attend Koo Haeyoung’s retrospective exhibition held at the Tate Modern in England a few months ago.
How would it feel to look back on a lifetime of work in one’s old age?
He really wanted to see it in person, but he couldn’t go because it was during the semester and he had too much work.
‘I must go to the exhibition next year.’
With the thought of wanting to become like his professor someday, Kang Lim worked hard on his projects.
He dreamed of traveling to the world’s leading art museums, meeting many people, and displaying meaningful works for them.
Lee Hyunseong looked at Kang Lim, who was resting his chin on his hand, and said.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“Nothing much, really.”
“Yeah, right.”
“……”
“Hah, I wonder what kind of assignment Professor Koo will give us this time. Last time, he asked us to create something about the era we live in and our own lives. That was way beyond my level. I didn’t even know where to start.”
Everyone around nodded in agreement with Lee Hyunseong’s comment.
They all nodded their heads, but when Koo Haeyoung entered, everyone went silent.
“Hello. It’s been a while since our last class in the first semester, hasn’t it?”
“Yes-!”
Everyone answered in unison, and Koo Haeyoung chuckled as he pulled down the screen.
They were still unpolished gems. The freshness of being twenty years old was always striking.
“Before I give you the assignment, I have something to ask you all.”
Even though he hadn’t asked yet, the students avoided his gaze.
They thought that if they made eye contact with Koo Haeyoung, he might call on them to answer.
Koo Haeyoung looked at the students moving their eyes around and spoke.
“It’s not difficult, and there’s no right answer. I just want to know what you all think art is. Feel free to speak.”
It was a simple question, but one that couldn’t be easily answered without much thought.
Silence filled the classroom.
The students naturally looked at Kang Lim.
‘What the heck, why are you looking at me? This keeps happening lately.’
Kang Lim was a bit flustered.
This situation kept occurring ever since he talked about his childhood and showed his portfolio in last week’s class.
All the students began to look at Kang Lim with profound interest.
They wondered what a genius thought about art.
Even Koo Haeyoung joined in with that look, so Kang Lim had no choice but to speak.
He didn’t think his answer was anything special, so he planned to say it quickly and move on.
“…I think art is just the most concrete thing.”
Koo Haeyoung’s eyes sparkled with interest at his answer.
“People often say that art is abstract, but I think what art tries to express is abstract, not art itself. Art speaks of phenomena that cannot be expressed in words, such as human emotions or complex social issues. These intertwined things sometimes become paintings, music, or dance.”
The students nodded in agreement as they thought about it.
Encouraged by their agreement, Kang Lim continued.
“In the end, artists want to share their view of society with many people. They present people with a different perspective of the world.”
Koo Haeyoung smiled at Kang Lim’s answer.
It was similar to the message he wanted to convey with the upcoming assignment.
Koo Haeyoung said.
“Exactly. Art is ultimately about how you view the world. A good piece of work asks questions of the world. What does the world need? What are we forgetting as we live our lives? I hope you create works that address such questions for this assignment.”
The students shook their heads as if experiencing dizziness.
The assignment was too serious and profound.
To better convey his intentions, Koo Haeyoung displayed a photograph on the screen he had pulled down.
“It seems too difficult for you, so I’ll give you an example. Does anyone know who this person is?”
The students looked at the screen.
It showed a young man wearing overalls and smiling mischievously.
Everyone spoke in unison.
He was someone everyone knew.
“It’s Nam June Paik-!”
Koo Haeyoung laughed as he spoke.
“Correct. Nam June Paik is regarded as a global genius artist. There’s no dispute about his genius. Why is he so famous?”
“Because he founded media art-!”
Koo Haeyoung laughed at the students confidently answering again.
“Correct. You know that very well. But there are many students who don’t really know why his works are so remarkable. How did Nam June Paik become a world-renowned artist?”
Faced with a pointed question, the students turned to look at Kang Lim again.
‘Oh, come on, don’t toss everything you don’t know to me…’
Kang Lim awkwardly rubbed his forehead with his right hand.
Seo Yeon, seeing Kang Lim’s predicament, laughed.
At this point, she thought she should share the burden a little and decided to speak up.
Among the students, only Seo Yeon and Kang Lim had properly studied late 20th-century art theory.
Seo Yeon answered while looking at Koo Haeyoung.
“Nam June Paik was a pioneer in every field. He was also the leader of the Fluxus movement, a performance art group created in the 1960s.
This was a time when famous painters like Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol were leading the art world. When the American government and big industrial capital were meeting art, Nam June Paik created performance art, an art form that couldn’t be owned by the wealthy. He was unique from the start.”
Koo Haeyoung nodded and spoke.
“Exactly. Though Andy Warhol and Nam June Paik worked during the same period and had overlapping backgrounds, they did different kinds of work. However, they didn’t always intend to criticize all existing forms of art. Can you elaborate more?”
Seo Yeon was caught off guard by the unexpected question.
Seeing Seo Yeon at a loss for words, Kang Lim laughed this time.
‘Looks like I have to help out again.’
When Kang Lim started to speak, all the students looked at him with amazement.
It was surprising in itself that he could have such a back-and-forth with the professor.
“Nam June Paik was fundamentally an Asian. To gain fame, self-promotion was necessary. He was different from other white artists.”
Seeing the desired answer come out, Koo Haeyoung’s eyebrows twitched.
“Among Nam June Paik’s peers was Yoko Ono, who gifted The Beatles a scandalous affair. This must have garnered quite a bit of attention too.
Moreover, he performed acts like smashing expensive classical instruments and cutting off art professors’ neckties.
Though these were performance arts meant to signify that all current art was dead, they were extremely shocking at the time. No one had ever seen anything like it.
As a result, he was always ridiculed and appeared in newspaper articles.
He was first known as an artist with many anti-fans, called things like ‘mad B-grade artist’ and ‘Asian art terrorist’.
Kang Lim pointed at Nam June Paik’s photo and spoke.
“He had a mischievous smile that was quite charming.
However, while smiling like that, he was sharpening his blade inwardly.
Nam June Paik worked on media art in secret, so that not even his closest colleagues knew about it, until his name became known.
He waited in silence until he held his first solo exhibition.
At the peak of receiving criticism and attention, he showcased a solo exhibition with works that the world had never seen before.
In an instant, he turned the art world that had been his anti-fans into his fans.
He completely focused the flow of art history onto himself.”
Koo Haeyoung nodded.
An artist should be able to read social trends like that.
They need to determine what position they will occupy in art history.
Art is born by breaking away from existing artistic trends. This is the path of a pioneer.
In Koo Haeyoung’s view, Kang Lim was similar.
To create contemporary art that communicates with the public was akin to saying he would break the authority of existing contemporary art.
Kang Lim summed up Koo Haeyoung’s thoughts.
“If Nam June Paik had released his media art bit by bit in secret, he wouldn’t have received as much attention.
He knew exactly what position he should occupy in art history and targeted the best time.
After his solo exhibition, his unique video editing using manipulated circuits influenced many artists.
Especially his expression of distorting images by interfering with screens using sound waves was distinctive.
A television, which everyone called an idiot box and no one cared about, was reborn as an art sculpture.
Nam June Paik used a cathode-ray tube instead of a canvas.”
Koo Haeyoung nodded in satisfaction and spoke.
“Exactly. The reason he could become a global genius artist was that he accurately perceived the direction of innovation in his era and occupied his place.
You can see the extent of his foresight from his words.
As early as the 1970s, he said that ‘when video technology advances, everyone will carry a small TV in their hands’. He said everyone would become a video producer and the world should unite through such media.”
Even now, when Koo Haeyoung was speaking, YouTube wasn’t yet widespread.
Nam June Paik had seen half a century ahead.
Koo Haeyoung flipped through the screen and spoke.
Several photos capturing his video works appeared.
“This work is Nam June Paik’s
This video work was broadcast live on January 1, 1984, in cities like New York, Paris, Berlin, and Seoul.
In George Orwell’s novel <1984>, a figure called Big Brother appears.
Big Brother, in 1984, surveils people and controls all desires through large screens.
The book warned that humanity would be dominated and homogenized through media.
However, as if mocking this, Nam June Paik said with a bright smile as soon as 1984 arrived,
‘Hello! George Orwell, you got it half wrong. We’re doing fine.’
He said that if many people shared their knowledge and united, such a thing wouldn’t happen.
He presented the public with concepts needed for the upcoming media age.
He suggested that we develop the power to resist media control.”
An art piece viewed by 25 million people worldwide simultaneously.
Nam June Paik received global acclaim with this work.
Koo Haeyoung looked at Kang Lim intently as he spoke.
Because what he wanted was also a masterpiece like this.
“Can you also create works that make people reflect on what’s missing, what we’ve forgotten, and what we should know in advance through your art? This assignment is to create works that ask necessary questions to the world.”
Ryu Junhee was hiding behind the partition right behind the communal desk.
‘Is the professor senile… This sounds like he’s asking us to create works to submit to the Venice Biennale…’
Even after hearing the explanation, he couldn’t help but doubt whether the students could actually make such works.
The assignment was that difficult.
Because of one student, the level of the first-year class had become way too high.
