Translucent tunnels at Leeum art installation

Visitors of the Black Box at the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, in central Seoul view “Spear to Heaven,” a video and installation work by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist. Provided by the museum

Spa resorts and remote backcountry destinations are not the only places to meditate and relax during the summer vacation season. The ongoing “Pipilotti Rist: Spear to Heaven” show in the Black Box of the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, in central Seoul lures viewers into a self-oblivious, dreamy state.

The exhibition consists of a single work by 50-year-old Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist. Four moving oval images of luminous and vivid colors are projected onto translucent drapes hanging from the ceiling of the Black Box, a space dedicated to media art.

Images include soothing sites like sheep grazing on a meadow and rolling hills of flowers as well as stranger ones such as a human face covered with grass and grasshoppers. Some images are explicitly erotic. Dreamy music plays in the background.

“Her works spontaneously traverse the boundary between reality and the illusory,” said Woo Hye-soo, chief curator of Leeum said. “In addition, the body of the viewer walking through the translucent tunnels is integrated into the artwork.”

Meanwhile, Leeum is also holding the “Artspectrum 2012” exhibition as part of the museum’s project to discover and promote emerging local artists. The show features eight artists including a media artist Kim Ayoung, photographer Bae Chan-hyo and installation artist Han Kyung-woo.

* The two shows run through Sept. 16. Admission for both shows is 6,000 won ($5.21) for adults. The day pass also covering permanent shows is 13,000 won. The museum is open from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and closed on Mondays. Go to Hangangjin Station, line No. 6, exit 1, and walk for five minutes. For details, call (02) 2014-6900 or visit www.leeum.org

By Moon So-young [symoon@joongang.co.kr]