Art show that electrifies readies for a second run

The City of Seoul will open its media art exhibition next month, presenting a selection of high-tech works by artists, scholars and visionaries from around the globe.

Media City Seoul will run from Sept. 26 until Nov. 24, and feature some 200 pieces by 77 artists. It follows the successful inauguration of the biannual exhibition two years ago. "Media art" refers to artwork that uses audio or video devices.

"Our purpose is to bring media technology closer to the public, and to introduce them to art that exists in a different form," said Yoo jung-sang, a director at the Seoul Museum of Art, which organized the show.

The event will be held at several venues. The main exhibition area will be the Seoul Museum of Art, which is in downtown Seoul next to Deoksu Palace. Exhibitors will also project works onto the palace's famous surrounding wall. Other pieces will be displayed at different locations throughout the city, including City Hall.

Lee Won-il, curator of the exhibition, said one work will highlight one of the city's pet projects. "We will show a model of a renovated Cheonggye Stream, from an artistic viewpoint," he said, predicting that local residents will find the work of particular interest.

The French philosopher Jean Baudrillard will attend the opening ceremony. He will also be a primary figure at a symposium that is being held so media artists can exchange ideas. Mr. Baudrillard is known for both the artwork he has produced in the 1990s and for his postmodern philosophical theories.

by Kim Pil-gyu