[Gallery Walk] The Unfading Experimental Spirit of a 60-Year Installation Art Master

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Lee Seung-taek Retrospective Exhibition 'Upside Down, Non-Art'

Lee Seung-taek 'Hip', 1972, plaster with paint, varnish, string, 57x38.5x22.5 cm. Artist's collection (left), Lee Seung-taek 'Untitled, 19682018', stainless steel, steel, urethane vinyl, variable size, artist's collection (top right), Lee Seung-taek 'Lee Seung-taek Self-Immolation Performance Art Exhibition', video, 1989
[Photo by National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] Sculptor and installation artist Lee Seung-taek (88) shared a story at a press conference about the first time he visited Deoksugung Palace during his university days.

"When I was in college, my friends suggested going to Deoksugung to paint. I said I couldn't go because I had no money, but they told me it was free to enter. So I went to Deoksugung for the first time. While my friends were painting, I was fascinated by the buildings and wandered around admiring them. At that time, I saw a godeul stone, and it looked so beautiful to me."

A godeul stone is a small stone used to wrap and hang the edges when weaving mats or foot coverings. Inspired by the godeul stone, Lee Seung-taek presented a series called "Binding" from the 1950s to the 1980s, featuring stones, female torsos, ceramics, books, old books, and banknotes tied together with twine.

A large-scale retrospective exhibition titled "Lee Seung-taek - Upside Down, Non-Art," highlighting over 60 years of Lee Seung-taek's artistic world, is being held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, until March 28 next year. About 250 of Lee Seung-taek's works can be seen in exhibition rooms 6 and 7 and the outdoor space of the Seoul branch.

Lee Seung-taek was born in 1932 in Gowon, South Hamgyong Province. He moved south in 1950 and entered the sculpture department at Hongik University in 1955. He challenged traditional sculpture and art concepts by using materials not previously used in the sculpture world, such as traditional Onggi earthenware, vinyl, glass, lumber, and briquette ash. The exhibition title "Upside Down, Non-Art" reflects Lee Seung-taek's spirit of challenge.

Artist Lee Seung-taek
Photo by National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

In Exhibition Room 7, visitors can see a comprehensive collection of Lee Seung-taek's "Binding" series. His 1958 work "Godeul Stone," made of 40 stones, two wooden pillars, and twine, was acquired by the Tate Museum in London in 2013.

Lee Seung-taek's relentless challenges to established art and artistic experiments were formalized around 1980 under the concept of "Non-Sculpture." He regarded traditional materials such as folk artifacts, godeul stones, stone pagodas, remote areas, village shrines, jars, and roof tiles as the roots of Non-Sculpture, based on his belief that "the most national is the most global."

Around 1970, Lee Seung-taek began creating works using intangible elements such as wind, fire, and smoke. He experimented with so-called "formless works," where the situation of wind blowing or something burning itself became the artwork.

In 1970, Lee Seung-taek exhibited a large installation work titled "Wind" at the "Korean Modern Sculpture Exhibition." He hung a rope about 100 meters long between buildings at Hongik University and tied and suspended 180 cm cloth pieces to flutter in the wind.

At this exhibition, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art recreated Lee Seung-taek's "Wind" by hanging a rope about 70 meters long between buildings at the Seoul branch. The blue sphere placed under "Wind" is a material used in the performance "Earth Action" from the 1990s to 2000s. During this time, Lee Seung-taek performed "Earth Action," rolling a large balloon symbolizing the Earth while traveling between Korea, Japan, China, and Germany.

Lee Seung-taek's experimental spirit was not recognized in the art world for a long time. His artistic world began to be reevaluated in earnest after receiving the Nam June Paik Art Center Award in 2009.

From October 2016 to March 2017, Lee Seung-taek was invited to the exhibition "Postwar: Art Between the Pacific and the Atlantic, 1945-1965" held at Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany. The exhibition featured over 350 works by 218 artists from 65 countries. Only Lee Ufan and Lee Seung-taek were invited from Korea.

Lee Seung-taek 'Wind (Paper Tree)', 1980s, Hanji paper, tree branches, variable size. Artist's collection.
[Photo by National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art]

Lee Seung-taek 'Wave Drawing on Sand', 1987, coloring on photograph, 91x114 cm, artist's collection.
[Photo by National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art]

Lee Seung-taek 'Earth Wearing Roof Tiles', 1988 (2020 Reproduction), Exhibition Yard
Photo by National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

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