Seoul Mediacity Biennale’s New Online Project Skewers the ‘Samsung Man’
The video by Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries tells a story of death and rebirth through text and a killer jazz track.
YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES, SAMSUNG MEANS REBIRTH (2021) (still). Video. Courtesy the artists and Seoul Mediacity Biennale.
The Seoul Mediacity Biennale has launched a new website and online channel as part of its 11th edition, entitled One Escape at a Time.
The first project on the descriptively titled Online Channel is a wonderful video called SAMSUNG MEANS REBIRTH (2021) by Internet art duo YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES.
'You die at your desk', begins the story, which is told in English and Hangul text that's propelled forward by the plucked strings of a double bass. As a Samsung executive, this death is similar to dying for your country, the story continues. It may be even more meaningful because when governments change, Samsung remains.
'EPISODE 1: THE EXECUTIVE' and 'EPISODE 2: THE SMART PHONE' are online now, with the remaining five episodes to be released every Thursday until 8 July.
Other projects that will appear on the Online Channel include Five Waves (2021)—an audio work that incorporates the sound of metal, water, fire, wood, and earth by Taiwanese composer Lim Giong—and a collaboration between Johanna Billing and Seoul-based musicians.
The 11th Seoul Mediacity Biennale is directed by Yung Ma, who has worked as a curator for the M+ Museum, Hong Kong, and Centre Pompidou, Paris. It is hosted by the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), where the event's offline exhibition will run from 8 September to 21 November.
The theme of the biennale is escapism and how it might be used as a tool to navigate fractured realities and confront pressing problems.
Participating artists are listed below. —[O]
11th Seoul Mediacity Biennale Participants
Bani Abidi,
Monira Al Qadiri,
Amature Amplifier,
Richard Bell,
Johanna Billing,
Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz,
Chang Yun-Han,
Chihoi,
Minerva Cuevas,
C-U-T (Niels Engström, Aron Fogelström, Victor Fogelström, Valentin Malmgren, Caio Marques de Oliveira, Karon Nilzén, and Ming Wong),
Brice Dellsperger,
DIS,
Hao Jingban,
Hapjungjigu,
Sharon Hayes,
Jinhwon Hong,
Hsu Che-Yu,
Geumhyung Jeong,
Eisa Jocson,
Kang Sang-woo,
Kim Min,
Sarah Lai,
Oliver Laric,
Li Liao,
Life of a Craphead (Amy Lam and Jon McCurley),
Lim Giong,
Liu Chuang,
Mackerel Safranski,
Tala Madani,
Henrike Naumann,
ONEROOM,
Yuri Pattison,
Paul Pfeiffer,
Hansol Ryu,
Pilvi Takala,
TASTEHOUSE × WORKS,
Wang Haiyang,
Cici Wu,
Chikako Yamashiro,
YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES,
Tobias Zielony.
