Diagonal Thoughts, ( ) function, 2021
Image courtesy of MMCA / ⓒPark Swan
‘MMCA Gwacheon Project 2021: Art Bus Shelter’ will be on display at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) Gwacheon shuttle bus stop until 21 Nov. The MMCA Gwacheon project is the second project to promote the Gwacheon Pavilion and revitalise this outdoor space. Of Seoul Pavilion, Deoksugung Hall, and Gwacheon Hall, only Gwacheon Hall operates a shuttle bus from the nearest subway station to the art museum. The bus stop for Gwacheongwan is the first impression of the museum, but it was outdated and did not play a role more than a functional facility. Therefore, the organiser selected ‘three bus stops (Seoul Grand Park station, the front gate and the back gate of the museum)’ as the locations for a spatial regeneration project, and wanted to integrate their journey to the art museum into a single transitional experience. After receiving recommendations from 15 artists from within Korean design and architecture circles, the final selection was made after two reviews, and Diagonal Thoughts (principal, Kim Sara). ‘( ) function’ was selected. It is about waiting with anticipation and curiosity before reaching a museum, and the shape lies is somewhere between functional architecture and abstract sculpture. Visitors who get off at the Seoul Grand Park station will wait for the bus at this boundary between the artwork and the functional. The inside of the bus has been filled with contemplative sounds and the scents of the forest. This is also part of the project 'A Journey through the Forest: The Way to the Museum' om which music director Jang Sunggun and Sutome Apothecary worked together. Even after the project duration is over, ‘( ) function’ will continue to serve as an entrance point to the museum, even long after ‘A Journey through the Forest: The Way to the Museum’ is no longer there.