(1997)
Anyang is located about 25 kilometers south of Seoul. Not much more than "some average, boring suburban town" for the people of Seoul, the city has been hosting the biennial "Anyang Public Art Project (APAP)" since 2005. Following the example of the "Sculpture Projects Munster", it’s an art event aimed at a vitalization of the area (this year it’s held from 10/18 - 11/20).
For this kind of event, Munster is irrefutably playing a pioneering role. Once every ten years since the project’s kick-off in 1977, the world’s most prominent creators have been invited to gather in Munster to produce and exhibit commissioned worls. According to the extended concept of "sculpture", contributions range from traditional, permanent exhibits to contemporary, sometimes one-off projects such as video works or installations. After each installment, some of the works made for it are being removed once the event closes, while others remain as and where they are. Consequently, an increasing number of works by such leading contemporary artists as Richard Serra, Donald Judd, Claes Oldenburg, Rebecca Horn and Ilya Kabakov are scattered across the city of Munster.
One of the most talked-about contributions to this year’s fourth volume is Mark Wallinger’s giant web of threads. Put up at a height of five metres, the threads are connecting buildings with trees, and trees with buildings, forming a circular web five kilometres in radius around a centre marked by a metal plate buried in the heart of the city. The work reminds the viewer of castel walls/borders of European cities since the Middle Ages, and at the same time makes one consider the possibilities/borders of contemporary "sculpture".
Compared to Munster, most of the works shown in Anyang weren't particularly spectacular. Nonetheless, Dan Graham presented with his glass "miniature labyrinth" a stately and convincing work, while the contributions of Lee Bul and Silvie Fleury displayed the typical futuristic taste of the artists' generation. One standout piece was Yan Pei Ming’s installation set up in the Central Park. The artist printed portraits of children tortured by poverty and violence, and those of UN secretary-generals onto banners, several dozen of which were lined up in the park and flapping in the wind.
The problem here, however, is the insufficient infrastructure of the event at large. In Munster, one of the first things one sees after getting off the train and leaving the station, for example, is a rental bike shop set up for the traveler’s convenience. The event is generally held during the summer holiday season, and even though it took place only four times so far, as this means that it’s been around since more than 30 years, it is well known and established among the Munsterians. I would also say that with a variety of articles and announcements via the Internet and other media, the event’s PR work is quite good.
Anyang, on the other hand, is for some reason happening in a season when especially the northern part of the country is often hit by cold waves, so the timing for outdoor displays is rather bad. In fact, the weather couldn't have been worse especially during the opening ceremony, as people were all shivering due to a cold and raging wind. Even if they offered bicycles, none of the visitors will make use of them unless the weather is much better. Different from Germany with its good railroad network, an improvement of the traffic access to Anyang should be one of the organizers' biggest tasks for future events. In terms of PR, it will probably take a while until Anyang can reach the standard of Munster.
The event in Anyang coincinded with "Platform Seoul", initiated by Korean star curator Kim Sunjung (10/6-11/4). Kim selected a little less than museums and galleries in Samchong-dong, central art district in Seoul, and organized a loosely connected art festival. Samchong-dong enjoys the advantage of bordering on the precincts of the Gyeonbokgung Palace, and offers plenty of stylish cafes and restaurants. It’s a rather small area, but this means that it’s possible to walk around and visit all of the galleries while using the easily noticeable sings and road maps on every second street corner. One can't really compare Seouls and Anyang, but in many respects the situation is just much better here.
As a matter of course, what ultimately decides whether such projects succeed or fail are not issues of accessibility and convenience, but the quality of exhibited works. If an event of this kind is an opportunity to see outstanding pieces of art one doesn't get to see anywhere else, people will come anyway. With a little bit of time, almost any problem can be solved sooner or later, so I really hope that the city officials will do their best to fan the citizens' interest, reinforce the event’s representation on the outside, and, more than all this, show their respect of artists and their works in order to keep APAP going.
Ozaki Tetsuya / Editor in chief / REALTOKYO