MMCA
About the Exhibition
What is the shape of underground nightlife in Seoul? Will coconuts and oranges one day grow underwater? How do cities encroach upon nature—and themselves?
PROJECT HASHTAG 2022, an annual open call program that aims to discover Korea’s next generation of creators engaged in the most prescient ideas of the moment. Embodying the spirit of the # symbol, PROJECT HASHTAG is designed to be interdisciplinary and boundless.
Of the 108 teams that applied, the 2022 winners are the collectives Lost Air and Crypton, who consider contemporary political, cultural, and social issues with the underground scene and virtual ecosystems in Korea. Both projects are organized around a specific set of hashtags, powerful rhizomatic tools that interconnect seemingly disparate user-generated content.
About Lost Air
Lost Air is a collective of four artists named Lee Woogyeong, Lee Dayoung, Park Juyeong, and Park Minju. Their project Rave Geometry takes viewers into the depths of Korea’s #underground #party #subculture by using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors to survey the tangible and intangible #space of various underground party venues in Seoul—some of which have disappeared. Rave Geometry embodies the fleeting nature of the city’s underground, which has just begun to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Lost Air’s project documents their #community through this monumental change. After organizing four “research parties” throughout 2022 and one “extra party” in collaboration with Hyundai Motor Group’s ZER01Ne Day, Lost Air will host one final party at MMCA in April of 2023, marking the end of their exhibition.
About Crypton
Hwang Sukyung, Yeom Inhwa, and Jeong Minju make up the curatorial collective Crypton, whose project Koko Killing Island imagines the #ecology of the future. Koko Killing Island is a virtual tourist destination, in which the center is swiftly sinking into the sea. Almost everything on the island is objectified and merchandised as an NFT, a gesture that questions the value of labor and capital. Submerged underwater at its center, the tropical atoll they've created is a surrealist island in which flora and fauna no longer have any geographic specificity. Koko Killing Island blurs the boundary between digital and material—and fiction and reality. Crypton playfully visualizes how the next #generation may experience life on a rapidly #aging planet, forefronting #accessibility in their design.
About the Program
PROJECT HASHTAG
PROJECT HASHTAG is a five-year initiative that fosters the next generation of Korean artists through an annual open call. The program provides support for the creation and presentation of experimental artworks that push boundaries. Reflecting the fluid and open nature of the hashtag symbol (#), this comprehensive program empowers emerging talents to engage in imaginative interdisciplinary collaborations that redefine artistic expression. The program embraces diverse fields, including painting, sculpture, new media, film, design, architecture, music, dance, linguistics, biology, physics, poetry, fiction, and hypertext. Annually, two creator teams are selected for a grant, an MMCA Residency Changdong studio space, and a showcase at MMCA Seoul. Launched in 2019, this program stems from MMCA and Hyundai Motor's decade-long partnership, dedicated to broadening Korean contemporary art's reach and impact.
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