SPACE September 2022 (No. 658)
‘Netflix and chill’: this phrase popular in America is used as a euphemism for sexual activity. The growth of video streaming (OTT) media was in the background of this new phrase. What if OTT, a familiar means of watching movies, dramas, and entertainment shows, could be combined with exhibitions? This idea was the starting point of the ‘Watch and Chill’ project of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA). This year, the second round of this exhibition asks us to watch an exhibition at home again. Here we’ll look for clues to this approach in an interview with curator Lee Jihoi and come to understand how Watch and Chill could enable greater access to the art world and become a new alternative to multimedia exhibitions.
Streaming platform of ‘Watch and Chill 2.0: Streaming Senses’
Lee Jihoi curator, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) × Han Garam
Han Garam (Han): MMCA is host to the exhibition ‘Watch and Chill 2.0: Streaming Senses’ both online and offline. I heard that the exhibition takes place on a subscription streaming platform that combines a subscription service with an exhibition for the first time in the world. Please explain the intentions behind this show and your means of planning and operation.
Lee Jihoi (Lee): ‘Watch and Chill’, a joint streaming platform for several art museums, was launched last year. A number of art museums have suffered losses in audience members due to the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19). MMCA was closed twice in 2020, and although the situation improved in 2021 only 100 visitors per hour were allowed to enter. In some countries, a lockdown was imposed, and people were not allowed to leave their homes. When it became difficult to visit art museums and people spent more time staying at home, OTT media such as Netflix and Watcha were gaining ground and drawing new fascination. To keep pace with this trend, I contemplated how one might actively embrace OTT in the art world instead of rejecting it as belonging to different field. On the other side, I paid attention to growing popularity of Korean culture and arts all over the world and the concept of sharing that continues. In fact, when I proposed to share goods, manpower, and collections with fellow curators in other countries, they responded immediately and the planning phase progressed quite fast. The Watch and Chill project is taking place both online and offline. One new work is uploaded to the online platform every week, and anyone in the world can log in and enjoy the displays. Members who signed up for a subscription when registering can receive news notifications by e-mail. What is different from general OTT is that the works are selected as part of a careful curatorial plan and the contents are similar to the offline exhibition, but they are introduced in a different way. Above all, we made efforts with the online platform itself so that visitors can experience the exhibition fully. The platform will remain available until the end of the offline exhibition. Even in OTT services stop providing some content when their contract expires, and this also applies to this exhibition. This season will present the offline exhibition at the MMCA Seoul from the 10th of June to the 12th of September, and the touring programme is scheduled to open sequentially at two cooperative art museums until the 31st of December. Therefore, the online platform will be dormant when the final touring programmes concludes in December 2022.
Han: I would like to know your thoughts on Watch and Chill’s first exhibition ‘Watch and Chill: Streaming Art to Your Homes’, released last year. What impact did it have on the second exhibition, ‘Watch and Chill 2.0: Streaming Senses’?
Lee: For six months of the first season of Watch and Chill, about 20,000 users visited the platform. In terms of views, they watched 680,000 times from 70 countries. As only people who have a verified IP address can use the platform, I analysed it according to country. People from all over the world except Africa and Iceland logged in and, even 18 people visited the exhibition from North Korea. I was surprised at the popularity and universal appeal of one exhibition and discovered the fullest possibilities for any one show. In addition, I was glad to feel as if I was getting closer to the audience. Unlike physical exhibitions, a direct communication channel with the audience can be provided by sending a weekly notification email and answering queries, which help to increase personal intimacy. There are some unexpected elements. For the first exhibition, we established desktop-oriented environment as we expected that most people would prefer a large screen on which to view the works. However, statistically, mobile users accounted for 68.6%; desktops 30.1% and tablets 1.3%. In other words, users stressed convenience. With this in mind, we worked hard to create a mobile environment in this exhibition. For example, mobile devices are operated by touch unlike a desktop, so we considered experience of touch through one’s fingertips when designing the interface.
Screenshot from streaming platform of ‘Watch and Chill 2.0: Streaming Senses’
Han: Last year, the exhibition theme was ‘home’. Residential space is a subject that has been re-examined due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You selected ‘senses’ as the main theme of this exhibition. Why do you opt to pay attention to the senses at this moment?
Lee: To be precise, last year’s exhibition was about the ‘connections between homes’. During the pandemic, the most important factor that provided connection was the digital space. As a result, I began to examine the phenomena between a screen and our body. For example, ASMR, which has established itself as a creative field, stimulates more senses through audiovisual as online contents, and the variation of the senses include psychological stability. As such, I think the senses in the digital age is a topic that is open to stories in multiple dimensions, ranging from the five senses to spiritual realm.
Han: ‘Watch and Chill 2.0: Streaming Senses’ consists of four sub-topics: ‘Optical Tactility’, ‘Calibrated Projection’, ‘Trance, Cross, Move’, ‘Bits of the Spirit’. Optical Tactility literally focuses on synesthesia that means you experience one of your senses through another, and Bits of the Spirit deals with spirituality. How did you set the categories for the senses, and how did these sub-topics embrace them?
Lee: The meaning behind our approach to the senses grew from consideration of trivial things to cognition and understanding. The first section, Optical Tactility defines this exhibition, a story about the transmission of senses. It is composed of works in which perceptual stimuli are transmitted from sound to touch to scent and light and works that have the same texture with ‘tentacular connections’ between different species as claimed by Donna J. Haraway. The second section, Calibrated Projection reveals reality as different by calibrating temporal and spatial perceptions. Yeom Jihye’s Future Fever (2018) creates new forms of storytelling by mixing the tenses of the future and the past. Basma Al Sharif’s We Began by Measuring Distance (2009) presents the present conflict in Palestine in a quantifiable way. The scene of objectifying distance, size, and angle of space and objects with a dull voice highlights the desperate realities in the region. Trance, Cross, Move investigates how we perceive digital space and whether there are any errors in perception. In the wired world, it seems that everyone is connected without boundaries. However, this section demonstrates that there is always disconnection due to individual economic situations, political coordinates, and urban environments. The final section, Bits of the Spirit focuses on spirituality. At first glance, spirituality seems to be in conflict with the developing senses of digital age. However, I thought that there might be a new emergent belief system, with its basis in the blind faith in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology we witness today.
Screenshot from streaming platform of ‘Watch and Chill 2.0: Streaming Senses’
Han: Do you consider what it is to stimulate the senses when you carry out web design and select featured works?
Lee: Right. WORKS has been in charge of graphic design and platform development since last year. This year, the structure of the platform seems similar to last year, but limp tentacle characters have been introduced. The characters are floating on the screen, and users can move them on the screen with a finger or mouse. Sounds have also been added. In collaboration with sound designer Te Rim, strange background music which is organic but digital is played at the beginning of the exhibition. Texts also encourage experiences and relationships; sentences like ‘You and I are about to enter the sensory space’, ‘Drag and move with me’. Last year, I wrote all the texts on the website, but this year I worked with copywriter Jei Lee to use languages to improve participation and intimacy in a more professional way. For the exhibits, I selected some works whose sensory modes are immediately felt and understood. I didn’t confine participating artists to contemporary artists. It is also interesting to display the works of NFT sculptors and ASMR YouTube creators on a par with the works of well-known contemporary artists. For me, what was as important as the work itself was the message it conveyed. It was a great pleasure to juxtapose contrasting works, as each artist has a different approach even within a large topic. For example, a work about smell has been placed next to a work about audiovisual to tactile, and a work that directly reveals its sensory profile is put together with a work that deals with its content.
Han: How different is organising online-oriented exhibitions to an offline exhibition?
Lee: Sometimes, the same work changes its form. Kim Sylbee’s Trinity: Finance-Credo-Spirituality (2019) is a good example. Originally, she prepared a manual for setting up a space like a Muslim prayer room with installation of sculptures and images inside. This time, the artist tailored her work to the exhibition’s characteristics. The installation elements appear as images on the web page, and the videos are placed together. The funny thing is that this page doesn’t end and just scrolls forever like the ancient desire for eternal life and wealth. Paradoxically, some media collections are easily forgotten due to advances in technology. Of course, it is curators who have to bring out them again, but they always try to figure out new ways to present the works. In that sense, I am proud that we have achieved a result that satisfies both the writer and I! (laugh) In offline exhibitions, the audience understands how others appreciate the art works and which exhibits they are attracted to, and they are also influenced by other bodies in this space. On the other hand, online exhibitions are one-to-one experience. I wanted to supplement this point. Last year, I conducted a satellite project called ‘The Tales I Tell’ with curator Kim Eunju, which provided a platform where artists, critics, novelists, and poets shared their reviews. This year, we will post articles by digital culture researchers, etc.
Han: Considering the nature of subscription online exhibitions, it seems that you have dealt with issues that are not usually the subject of regular online exhibitions.
Lee: Since works are released one by one each week, there is an extra table in addition to the exhibition composition, the opening order of works. I considered which would be more effective when first shown. Beyond this, I arranged collections of the three cooperative institutions so that they would be evenly distributed, attracting a diverse range of subscribers and for diverse interests, and connected this to content about previous public artworks. Some say it feels like watching a biennale from the comfort of their own home. (laugh)
Kim Sylbee, Trinity: Finance-Credo-Spirituality, 2019 / Screenshot from streaming platform of ‘Watch and Chill 2.0: Streaming Senses’
Han: The same exhibition was held at the MMCA Seoul. What sets it apart from the online exhibition is exhibition experience designed by BARE (co-principals, Jeon Jinhong, Choi Yunhee). In the introduction to the exhibition, Watch and Chill is described as the ‘experiments of offline exhibitions and their on-scene engagements, with the online experience as its core’. What is considered realism here, and what kind of realism did you want to bring out through BARE?
Lee: On-scene engagements means physical experience. With social distancing restrictions loosened last year, people want more offline activities this year. For this reason, we placed more emphasis on on-scene engagements this time. Air was a building material in BARE’s AirBeam Pavilion (2021). Discovering the potential in the project’s air beams, I suggested that BARE make use of it as a sensory element. In the beginning, I had a lot of conversations with BARE about sense of touch. The final work, Air Rest (2022) and Air Mount (2022) transforms every act from sense of hip when sitting to maintaining balance into experience.
Han: Watch and Chill collaborates with art galleries in many countries. Last year, it mainly targeted Asia, but it partnered with institutions in Europe and the Middle East this year.
Lee: When it comes to the choice of institutions, we made a decision according to awareness, propagation, and a physical space for a touring exhibition. Another important issue was trust. As a result, all of the partners in Seasons 1 and 2 were connected through human networks. As Watch and Chill is a project led by MMCA, I was in charge of communicating with overseas curators as a member of MMCA. The process is led by MMCA which organises everything from the exhibition theme to the selection of exhibits, and feedback is given from overseas art galleries. In the process, the galleries recommend other works or highlight technical issues, or from time to time suggest works more closely related to the topic. On one occasion, the selection completely changed. The first exhibition was an opportunity to learn efficient communication, the order of work, and contents of the agreement. This time, we collaborated with National Centre for Architecture and Design (ArkDes) in Sweden and Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) in the United Arab Emirates. Some aspects were similar to last year, but we were able to learn something new not only from different culture, but also from a different operative system and approach from these institutions and their organisational structures. Nevertheless, it was good to get inspiration in communicating with institutions in other countries.
Han: The pandemic, the steady rise of the online world, and the popularisation of subscription services have changed the way people enjoy contents. In this trend, I think Watch and Chill will play as a major milestone in the culture and art world. Unfortunately, Watch and Chill is scheduled to end three-year project with a new exhibition next year. Please tell me about your blueprint in your mind.
Lee: I think Watch and Chill can be another option for media exhibitions. This type of exhibition has the advantage that it allows audience members to decide whether stay at the museum for a long time or experience in one short scene and take more time to watch it at home if they want to learn more about the exhibition. Next year, we are going to present exhibitions in collaboration with major art galleries in the Americas and Oceania. The keyword behind season three is ‘thriller’. Although the term thriller appears to be related to film and literature, it is also related to cities and places. We feel disoriented and threatened when something goes wrong at any moment in a familiar and seemingly comfortable place. It’s an interesting mentality. It is also connected to the experience of completely absorbing time and space through storytelling, that is, ‘immersion’. Preparing for the final exhibition after completing the second one, I want to invite curators to take part in a conversation when Watch and Chill project is over.
Exhibition view of ‘Watch and Chill 2.0: Streaming Senses’ / Image courtesy of MMCA / ©Kyungsub Shin
Exhibition view of ‘Watch and Chill 2.0: Streaming Senses’ / Image courtesy of MMCA / ©Kyungsub Shin
Lee Jihoi
Lee Jihoi, curator at the MMCA, studied contemporary art theory at Goldsmiths, University of London and architectural planning at Columbia University, New York. She planned the three-year project ‘Watch and Chill’ streaming platform and international touring programme at the MMCA, ‘MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2020: Haegue Yang―O₂ & H₂O’ and she was the curator of the three-year research and exhibition ‘Imagining New Eurasia’ at Asia Culture Center, the associate curator for ‘Before/After MASS STUDIES Does Architecture’ at PLATEAU, Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, and the deputy curator for ‘Crow’s Eye View: The Korean Peninsula’, which received the Golden Lion, for the Korean Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale.
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