Masterful Attention Seekers

Artists: Dew Kim, Sung Neung Kyung, Shin Min, Shin Shin, Lee Kanghyuk, Lee Moka, WONJEONG DEPARTMENT STORE, Cho Young Nam, Kwon Siwoo, Jang Jintaeg, Maco, Contemporary Arts Meme, Culture Commune, Ana Mendieta, Chris Burden, Christine Wang, Darko Maver, Eva & Franco Mattes, Georgie Nettell, Guarionex Rodriguez Jr., Juliana Huxtable, Piero Manzoni, Thomas Hirschhorn

Exhibition summary: Masterful Attention Seekers explores the instinctual human craving for attention in a variety of contexts. By examining the multi-layered attention-seeking prevalent in contemporary art, the exhibition examines the history of attention-seeking and contemplates how attention and its seekers are rooted in our daily lives. Through a variety of artworks, we delve into the nature of desire based on attention and examine how such desires are expressed and understood through art.

The Korean word Neungsuneungran (masterful) is used to describe a person who succeeds in achieving their goals through extraordinary ingenuity, precision, and adaptability in any given situation. Conversely, Gwanjong (attention seeking breed) is Korean slang combining the words Gwanshim (attention) and Jongja (breed). It represents someone who expresses a fundamental desire for attention, and is generally used negatively for someone who engages in provocative behavior intentionally to gain specific benefits, or positively for someone who creates new value through attention as a medium and their interactions with others. Therefore, Masterful Attention Seekers can be understood to refer to individuals who attract attention—whether positively or negatively—across a variety of contexts and with consummate skill.

The exhibition questions the above positive and negative categorizations of “attention seekers” and the boundaries between them. The concept of attention-seeking can be interpreted differently based on the behavior of individuals, and the impacts of that behavior. Assessing any action as good or bad depends on context, motive, and outcome. For instance, attention seekers with positive goals may contribute to improving our perception or promoting interest in social issues, thus facilitating change. Conversely, negative attention seekers could cause harm to others or create discord by exaggerating behaviors for personal gain, exerting negative influences on others. However, the problem lies in the subjectivity of such distinctions. What constitutes positive or negative behavior will vary depending on individual values, cultural backgrounds, and the situation at the time. Since it is a highly complex concept requiring careful analysis and debate, any opinion on the conditions that constitute attention seeking will inevitably be personal to some extent.

Ultimately, the exhibition attempts to transcend categories of positive and negative attention seekers, suggesting that the act of seeking attention does not belong to fixed categories and is highly subjective, allowing for diverse interpretations. Rather than offering conclusions, the exhibition raises open questions for each of us. Divided into 23 main sections, it functions as both an open space and a maze, within which each viewer may find their own path forward and their own answers to the complex question of desire for attention. We encounter, through the exhibition, a highly select group of artists, each of whom exquisitely and elegantly redefines the norms of art. Through their diverse works, cultural backgrounds and values, the exhibition aims to speculate and provide preliminary analyses upon the concept of attention and those who seek it. These artists reveal their unique interpretations of attention seeking and their personal experiences of (being) attention seekers in their own expressive styles. Through the exhibition, we explore the personal desires and ambitions of artists, within the wider trends of contemporary art, and their sophisticated strategies for satisfying them, suggesting that becoming a masterful attention seeker is not simply about attracting the attention of others but is also based on deep self-reflection. This allows for our own profound meditation on how we each perceive one another and how we are connected far beyond the mere desire for attention.