Korea’s National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art is embarking on an experimental journey with a new project to show how two seemingly different fields can collaborate by intertwining contemporary art with cutting-edge technology.

Taking the theme of “Multiverse,” the national museum’s new project will introduce six rising and established artists and their artworks that adopt various technologies including immersive technology, robots that substitute the kinetic capacity of humans, artificial intelligence that surpasses human’s learning abilities, and self-driving technology such as lidar and self-driving algorithms.

The project is part of the museum’s multi-disciplinary convergence program, “MMCA Performing Arts,” an annual showcase that focuses on a variety of art that breaks conventional norms. As part of this program, last year, MMCA allowed visitors to take companion dogs to appreciate artworks together at the exhibition “A Museum for All.”

The project “MMCA Performing Arts 2021: Multiverse” kicked off Friday and will run throughout the year, presenting work of six artists sequentially. The first exhibition is Kwon Ha-youn’s “XXth Attempt towards the Potential of Magic,” which uses virtual reality technology, and will run through March 28. According to Kwon, her artwork will allow audiences to become part of the medium that connects artificially created fictional space with reality.

The audiences will be offered to wear a VR headset at the Project Gallery, a space that has been newly refurbished for the exhibition.

“‘MMCA Performing Arts 2021: Multiverse’ is a program that further expands the scope of art while reflecting the spirit of the present era,” said MMCA Director Youn Bummo. “Visitors will be able to take a hands-on approach on interesting works of art that meet with state-of-the-art science technology at the museum as a place to boost imagination.”

Other exhibitions include “X (Indifferent Spectacle)” by Seo Hyun-suk in March and April that showcases VR and 3D scanning made by lidar, “The Ghost in the Machine” by An Jung-ju and Jun So-jung from May to August, a self-driving racing drone, “Halo and Untitled” by Kimchi and Chips in June, “Toy Prototype” by Jeong Geum-hyung in August and “Landscape being Decoded” by Kim Hoonida in October. 

The exhibition “Landscape being Decoded” by Kim Hoonida, whose interest is in ecological changes and technology, will experiment with self-driving lidar technology to allow viewers to explore the space and the environment in 360 degrees.

Online reservation is required for all performances and exhibitions through MMCA’s official website and tickets can be purchased at the museum upon arrival.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)