In the midst of a busy schedule exploring various museums and galleries, and meeting artists in Singapore, JoongAng “SUNDAY S” Magazine met not TOP from BIGBANG, but rather the art enthusiastChoi Seunghyun.
Still, talking about BIGBANG’s TOP receiving an award at a contemporary art awards ceremony is a strange combination. So I did research beforehand and found that South Korea’s pioneer of abstract painting, painter Kim Whanki’s (1913-1974) nephew was Choi Seunghyun’s maternal grandfather, the novelist Seo Gunbae (1928-2007). I was curious to talk about his family.
TOP: “My mom, older sister, aunt, older female cousin, etc… all the women in my family majored in art. My oldest maternal aunt’s father-in-law, Lee Insung (1912-1950, Korea’s genius representative modern art painter) was a painter. There was an atmosphere since childhood that I also had to do art. But because I liked doing music more, I rebelled saying that I hated drawing. The fact that I entered the entertainment world was regarded as an “aberration” in my family. Now if I think about it, it seems I did a lot of visual things. Instead (of art), I had a lot of interest in clothes and fashion. I started collecting sneakers when I was 13.”
Q: So you’ve had collector’s mania since childhood.
TOP: “I liked collection itself. I also earnestly collected plastic figures like Bearbricks. I found that when I collected things that had the same shape but different colors, looking at that orderly perfection made me feel better.”
Q: What was the catalyst for your interest in contemporary art and design?
TOP: “I debuted in BIGBANG at 19, but I started collecting designer furniture when I was 22. I particularly like chairs. Yet I’ve also found myself studying architecture. You know, the things we call chairs are really like small pieces of architecture. I’ve also started collecting artworks by one or two pieces at a time.”
Q: How do you study art?
TOP: “Whenever I covet something, I surf the internet. I analyze the price trends for artworks that go for auction, and even examine which artworks are fashionable. I study things like, what’s the logic of the art market’s supply and demand, what’s the reason why a particular artwork becomes popular, and so on.”
Q: Do you use your leisure time when on tour overseas?
TOP: “Yes. When I have free time, I nearly always go visit museums. On this Japanese tour, I visited the Mori Art Museum.”
Q: The reason you study art?
TOP: “Because I am a person who has to become a work of art. I have to understand well the flow of trends that people are enthusiastic about. Because the music I make is also the task of expressing what people like.”
Q: But a young singer being interested in contemporary art is unique.
TOP: “Actually, I wanted to keep studying it quietly until I was a little older. When you’re revealed to like art, the attention you receive is scary. It’s like making a big deal out of it, etc. Lee Jungjae-sunbaenim has also said something similar in the past. There’s an age difference between us, but our interest in art and furniture is the same, and we have a relationship where we call once a day. He said that in the past, he couldn’t go somewhere and say that he liked art, because it seemed like he was being pretentious.”
Q: But now you’ve received an award.
TOP: “At first I didn’t want to disclose it and intended to keep pursuing art quietly, but it turned out like this. Art and design are not difficult things, and I conceded (to accept this award) with the desire to share the things that I like. In addition, the Asia Artist Award Group Show starts in April, and I will be acting as co-curator with the Serenella Ciclitira PMG chairman, independent curator Lee Yeongju-ssi. I ended up participating in this award ceremony both to meet Asian artists and to examine the exhibition space. Since it’s turned out like this, I want to make the most of myself.”
Q: Do you have full-fledged art plans?
TOP: “It’s not that I have some business strategy. I think my first artistic work will be a chair collaboration project with Vitra museum. The parties on the museum side heard that I like chairs and 2-3 years ago they sent a proposal for me to color their plastic chairs. I didn’t want to only dress up someone else’s designs, and I told them I wanted to make something I’d conceived myself, so my sketches are in Vitra’s art collection and they are in the process of being manufactured.”
Q: Can you show your sketches?
TOP: “I can’t reveal them yet. It was originally scheduled to come out by the end of last year, but the 3D production was delayed so the samples also didn’t come out. They’re metal chairs, but they capture the feeling of something flowing. Because I was born in ‘87, I thought to create a limited edition collection of 87 chairs.”
Q: How many chairs have you collected?
TOP: “About 80. The majority are at my parents’ house. I’m still in the early stages of collecting, but because the other members don’t know much about design, they teased me about having a “housewife’s tastes.” Now, when they buy chairs or furniture, they come directly to me and ask me about it. President Yang Hyunsuk is like that too, haha.
Q: Have you ever experienced Stendhal Syndrome (a strong psychosomatic reaction from viewing beautiful artwork) from chairs?
TOP: “I received a feeling like that from the chairs of Antonio Gaudi and Salvadore Dali. Shall we call it the power of surrealist furniture made by surrealist artists? How can something be made of wood and yet have such a sexy feeling? I find that it’s the same feeling as looking at an enchanting woman.”
Q: Your feeling when you collect a wonderful piece of furniture?
TOP: “Of course, I’m happy. And I get the thought that I have to work harder. Wonderful design has a good energy. If I sit on a chair like that, it seems like song lyrics get written better and when I read scripts they are better committed to memory.”
Q: Your favorite furniture designer?
TOP: “These days, I’m into Italian designers. I also like Ico Parisi. Lately, French artists are popular at auctions, but personally I think Italian designers will soon get recognition. Designs of the 1950s are receiving love now as well. Good designs become known after time passes. Whether it’s truly good or not becomes decided. It’s similar to my line of work.”
Q: I recall you said you’re revealing part of your chair collection.
TOP: “Artist Yang Haegue is holding an exhibition at the Samsung Museum of Art in March, and she said there will be a special section gathering the chairs of celebrities in a corner. I thought that would be fun so I also decided to contribute a few things.”
Q: Is there someone who helps you study art?
TOP: “Aa Museum’s president Kim Younghan helps me kindly. He’s said that when he was my age, he also started collecting. My dream is to collect more wonderful furniture and maintain a design museum.”
Q: Why a design museum?
TOP: “Something I’ve always wondered is why in our country, manufactured products have deteriorated design-wise. If I think about it, it’s because it’s an environment where it’s hard to see good things growing up. I was the same way. I want to make a space where young people can see and feel things.”
We moved in order to visit the Singapore Art Museum (SAM). It’s a place where the nominees for the 3rd Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) Signature Arts Awards gathered. The Vietnamese artist Nguyen Trinh Thi’s video of people eating things, called “Unsubtitled” (2013), is projected on life-size wooden panels. Standing in front of this for some time, Choi Seunghyun says, “This is really powerful.” While looking at Choi Wooram’s “Custos Cavum (Guardian of the hole)” which looks like an aluminum larva, Seunghyun said, “I definitely intended to meet this artist today” with an interested expression. In front of Thailand’s Arin Rungjang’s “Golden Teardrop”, he also struck a playful pose. In front of Lisa Reihana’s combination of animation and live action, “In Pursuit of Venus”, he took out his phone and took a picture.
Q: A contemporary artist that you like?
TOP: (While gazing at the artist sitting beside him) “It’s Kohei Nawa.” [T/N: This is the artist who made the deer made out of glass baubles]
Q: The reason?
TOP: “I really like that he has an attitude disposed towards always researching and showing new things. He’s 12 years older than I am, and I find that other people don’t make their artworks using methods or materials as well (as he does). I asked the reason why, and he said “if things are similar, then I have no reason to do it.” He’s a good friend who often comes to see my concerts, too. In the future, I’d like to do a collaboration between the two of us.”
Q: If you two do something together, what kind of artwork would come out?
TOP: “Um, I suppose probably video art. Or else make an image that would fit on my solo album cover.”
Q: Ah, when watching Doom Dada MV, I saw that Kim Whanki’s “Deer” artwork appeared really large.
TOP: “We asked the Whanki Museum and received a file of the drawing, so we enlarged it using CG. It’s because I thought it would be fun to combine contemporary art and oldfashioned art. Whilst discussing it with the director, I did the set design directly. I mean, the word “Doom” is black slang meaning “mental breakdown,” and “Dada” is derived from “Dadaism.” It’s a work satirizing the phenomenon of blindly chasing the mass media, and I juxtaposed the dead media with the living deer.”
Q: Because you’re interested in art again, your family is probably happy.
TOP: “They were relieved at the fact that I developed a wholesome hobby. Because they acknowledged my taste and sensibility, I’m happy too.”
Q: How was your maternal grandfather?
TOP: “For me, he was a very exceptional person. He wrote me many letters. I also have my grandfather’s journal. So perhaps because of that, I tend to use expressions that people my age don’t use much. For example, my grandfather often signed off his letters with “yours in haste” at the end, and in the song “Because” from the ‘19’ (2009) OST, there is an “in haste” part in the lyrics which is borrowed from my grandfather’s letters.”
Q: What is the relative importance of music, acting and art (to you)?
TOP: “My job is one which you have to do while imagining the things you aren’t showing. I can’t not think about how I look. What do I have to do so as to express myself differently from others? I think that’s why I receive more stimulus from visual things. Liking design is a kind of breakthrough for me. Looking at beautiful things relieves my stress. I think art fills the gap between music and acting.”
Q: It seems art became a new stimulus for you.
TOP: “It’s something I really like, and it’s a pleasant and exciting kind of stimulation. When you live as a celebrity, there are times when you can’t find good inspiration. Because you become lazy, or because you lose your reason to do things, there are moments when your excitement disappears. President Yang has said this before: “When are you excited?” and “Entertainers shouldn’t lose their excitement.” When I heard that and thought about it, it seems the moments when I’m most excited are when I’m looking at and studying artworks.”
Q: Do you have a role model?
TOP: “They’re my contemporaries, so they are not my role models, but I’m carefully observing Pharrell Williams and Kanye West, who are producers, singers, and people advancing an artistic program. I find that in the end, people who like fashion go like that.”
Q: I can’t not ask this question. When is your comeback?
TOP: “Haha. We hope to release good music. It could be as early as this summer.”
The interview ended and he stood up and spoke as if talking to himself, “It’s not just for show. I’m not going to do it with a light heart, because my pride is a little strong.”
Thank you @kwonaventure for translating!
Niciun comentariu:
Trimiteți un comentariu