An alternative exhibition space situated in a residential corner of Seochon, titled the Audio Visual Pavilion (AVP), closed its doors for the last time on 30 October, after a six-year run that began in 2013 with the exhibition, ‘No Mountain High Enough’.
AVP, which was co-managed by the editor An Inyong and curator Hyun Seewon, was an exhibition space built on the original bones of a digeut (Korean alphabet “ㄷ”)-shaped hanok, and served as a breeding ground for various artistic initiatives including experimental exhibitions of rising artists. Among a tidal wave of alternative spaces that rose and fell from the early 2000s, it stood apart for its longevity and shone as a beacon for creative potential in the Korean art world.
Prior to its closing, the AVP’s final show was a retrospective of the project group SMSM, comprised of artists Sasa [44], Park MeeNa, and duo Sulki and Min, that examined their pieces from 2009 to 2019. SMSM describe their work as motivated by ‘the notion of health and happiness as its subject matter; as for the nature of (our) work, there is a deliberate emphasis on the aspects of applied art or practicalities’.
Among the exhibited objects was Sasa[44]’s ‘a#26-81-v2’ (2013), which hints at the building’s life prior to AVP’s opening in 2013, under the slogan ‘what’s this’, while Park MeeNa, who held a solo exhibition ‘Scream’ there in 2016, returned the piece ‘Yellow Green Screen’ (2016/2019) to the same spot it occupied in its original appearance, the laundry room. Sulki and Min made a comeback with ‘Decorative Information’ (2013/2019) and highlighted the contour lines of the Inwangsan Mountain, which stands to the west of AVP. These and other artworks were interspersed throughout the digeut-shaped hanok in the final days of the venue, and although the physical space is no more, the business will continue to produce quarterly publications under the title Gyegan shicheonggak.
View of Audio Visual Pavilion ⓒChoi Eunhwa