BETTER THAN TOMORROW

Artists: Che Onejoon, Cilia Erens, Guan Xiao, Jackson Hong, Im Youngzoo, Katja Novitskova, Oriol Vilanova

Program:
Nowadays (Oriol VILANOVA, Workshop+Performance)
October 17–December 15
Every other Saturday, 2-4pm
Co-producing & Performance: Boramie Lee, Wonsuck CHOI, Sangman PYO

Vertical Awareness (Cilia ERENS, Site-specific Sound Walk)
October 17–December 15
Every day, 4-4:30pm
Tour guide: APAP Docents
From Anyang Pavilion to MVRDV’s Anyang Peak

The 6th Anyang Public Art Project (APAP6) establishes its core message and weaves the whole flow of the entire project through the main exhibition BETTER THAN TOMORROW. As locating the audiences in the center, APAP6 addresses questions on “Symbiotic City” and “Anyang” in the boundaries among city, technology, environment, art, and the history of APAP, and asks how to make the relationship with them. Those discourses remain intactly in the exhibition.

Symbiosis is often interpreted as “a relationship for living better together.” However, symbiosis in the dictionary means “an interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association.” There are various kinds of symbiosis, from the benefit of both to the loss of both. In this regard, the exhibition asks about the symbiosis in the era of “Anthropocene” and “Capitalism.” In this age, symbiosis does not mean just a relationship in which one sacrifices for the other, but a starting point for a new circulation when desires of each other fit together at some moment, while everyone pursues their own interests for the common good, like the relationship between crocodiles and birds. At this point, the exhibition itself seeks symbiosis. Perhaps this is nothing more than the concept of new relationships and the common good to be pursued in the capitalist era. The exhibition shows how “symbiosis” can circulate within technology and the capitalist system.

Anyang Pavilion is transformed into an open exhibition space. On the premise of what public art is in the present sense, it reorganizes the existing function that has been operating as a library platform since APAP4 in a more accessible format, and commissions sculptural benches and tables that recreate the history of Anyang. By presenting a space where Anyang citizens and audience can experience art and knowledge, it presents further aesthetic value comparing to the past.

The exhibition also questions about the “city” as an environment, and actively leads Anyang’s history and urbanity into the space. Invited works that capture diverse identities of Anyang based on various media such as photography, video, sound art, sculpture, and performance, deliberate how art can respond to audience, and encounter the present meaning of public art. Audience experiences various Anyang that they have not seen before in different perspectives with their bodies, and becomes to ask about various environments such as the city, nature, and culture where they live.

Anything can be placed in front of BETTER THAN TOMORROW such as “today is,” “yesterday was,” “the day after tomorrow will be,” or “Anyang is.” The exhibition leaves the blanks open to the public’s imaginations and expects for them to fill it in with their own words.

Artistic Director: KIM Yoonsub

Senior Curator: Sun A MOON