Asian artists meet in 'City of Xijing'

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Lifestyle

Tue, September 26, 2023 | 08:44

Asian artists meet in 'City of Xijing'

Posted : 2015-05-29 16:49

Updated : 2015-06-02 18:13

"Xijing Olympics" (2008) by art collective Xijing Men (Gim Hong-sok of Korea, Chen Shaoxiong of China and Tsuyoshi Ozawa of Japan) is on display at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul through Aug. 2. / Courtesy of National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Visitors are required to go through some procedures to enter an imaginary city of Xijing at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) Seoul's Gallery 5.

At "the port of entry," all visitors have to oblige to at least one of the three regulations — wear a bright smile, sing a tune from a song or do a charming dance. When admitted to Xijing, each visitor will receive a passport which doubles as a brochure for the exhibit.

This city is governed by three presidents — or artists — named Xijing Men. The Xijing Men is a collective composed of Gim Hong-sok of Korea, Chen Shaoxiong of China and Tsuyoshi Ozawa of Japan. Founded in 2006, the artist trio established a fictional city of Xijing, which literally means Western Capital.

As Asian art made a meteoric rise in the contemporary art scene in the 1990s, Asian artists searched for the cause behind the phenomenon which resulted in introspection. Some artists sought solidarity and the Xijing Men is an example of the tripartite artists' collaborative way of looking back upon themselves.

"There is Beijing (Northen Capital), Nanjing (Southern Capital) and Tokyo (Eastern Capital), but the Western Capital is nonexistent as of now. So we decided to name the unseen city after once-existed city of Xijing," Ozawa said. "We chose to pronounce it in Chinese way because all three of us liked it best when we tried it in the three languages of us."

Xijing appeared in historical and literary references, but the actual city does not exist on Earth anymore. Xijing Men's Xijing is not a mere fiction, but a reflection of where we live now.

The imaginary city is a drifting mass. It has been exhibited in many places throughout Asia and the other side of the globe including the United States in the past decade. MMCA's "World of Xijing" features all works of the Xijing Men, providing a broader understanding of the project.

Gim said they did not try to be funny, but their works make the viewers can't stop laughing. "Xijing Olympics" (2008) is the trio's criticism on the capitalization of Olympic Games, which grew away from the true spirit of sportsmanship.

In this performance video, Gim, Shaoxiong and Ozawa play various sports games with new rules conceived by them. Watermelons become soccer balls, while loaves of bread substitute guns. For marathon, they set stopwatches by their pillows and compete to sleep longer.

The artists went on to host their second Olympics last year, playing Winter Games. They played ice hockey using tea spoons to pass ice balls and curling using their luggage as the stone. After the Olympics, all three of them were awarded the same medals, only differentiated by colors.

"I love Xijing — Xijing School" offers an interesting insight to how education shapes a country. Xijing Men suggests a wholly new way of education, not unilateral lecture, but providing an environment for self-teaching. Urban planning of Xijing is compared to cutting a watermelon in the video "Daily Life of Xijing President."

The exhibit wraps up with individual works of the three artists. Gim presents his signature sculpture "LOVE (192 Hours)" which parodies Robert Indiana's pop art sculpture. Ozawa offers his soysauce prints of Western masterpieces of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Shaoxiong's "Ink Media" is an animation in ink-and-wash style. The three have distinct styles, which represent their countries in some way.

The exhibit runs through Aug. 2. For more information, visit www.mmca.go.kr or call (02) 3701-9500.

meeyoo@ktimes.com