Artist duo to unveil video piece ahead of biennale in Venice

The artist duo Moon Kyung-won and Jeon Joon-ho will unveil their new video piece “The Ways of Folding Space & Flying” today in Italy as part of the press preview for the 2015 Venice Biennale.

The world’s oldest and most influential contemporary art festival officially starts on Saturday.

In a press conference held at the Arts Council Korea’s Arko Art Center in central Seoul last month, the two artists, both 46 years old, said the film-like piece will be shown on seven screens installed in various parts of the Korean pavilion known for its transparent walls and roof in Venice.

The work will tell a story about what happens to the structure and an anonymous person within it, played by the popular actress Lim Soo-jung, in a dystopian future in which most parts of the earth are flooded.

In recent years, the duo has created works that hover on the border between visual art and film while dealing with questions about the future of society and art.

“The artists were inspired from the Korean pavilion’s characteristic; the building gives a good view of a lagoon in front of it,” said Lee Sook-kyung, the commissioner for the Korean pavilion who works as the research curator of the Tate Research Centre: Asia-Pacific.

Three other Korean artists - Kim Ayoung, Nam Hwa-yeon and Im Heung-soon - will participate in the Venice Biennale’s main international exhibition, directed by Nigerian curator and art critic Okwui Enwezor.

BY MOON SO-YOUNG [symoon@joongang.co.kr]