National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Launches Online Platform 'Watch and Chill'

Watch&Chill_mobile screen. (Photo by National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art)

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) announced on the 24th that it has launched the video art specialized streaming platform "Watch and Chill," collaboratively established by four art museums in the Asia region, to actively promote the Korean Wave in the arts sector.

"Watch and Chill" is a subscription-based streaming service that showcases 22 video artworks primarily from the media collections of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Hong Kong's M+ Museum, Thailand's MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, and the Philippines' Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) through an online platform to subscribers worldwide. The platform was developed through cooperation among curators from these four Asian institutions, led by the MMCA, to explore behavioral changes and responses in the accelerated digital era caused by COVID-19.

"Watch and Chill" proposes a new way for museums, artists, and audiences to share art. Alongside the online platform, a showcase exhibition titled "At Our Home, Watch and Chill" presents video artworks together, offering a unique opportunity to experience the works.

Both the online platform and the exhibition are organized around four themes: "Objects in the Living Room," "Someone Beside Me," "Community of the Home," and "Meta-Home." Each theme sequentially features video works from each institution's collection. Part 1, "Objects in the Living Room," introduces works depicting household items and scenes of their arrangement, display, and circulation. Part 2, "Someone Beside Me," presents works reflecting on the physical and mental aspects of the home as a sanctuary affected by the intervention and intrusion of other beings. Part 3, "Community of the Home," showcases works proposing alternative groups and clusters different from traditional neighborhood communities. Part 4, "Meta-Home," reveals works dealing with the home beyond the house, focusing on the hyperconnectivity of family. MMCA artists such as Koo Donghee, Kim Heecheon, and Cha Jiryang have reworked existing pieces to suit the streaming service format. The exhibition space features "Object Space," a spatial design project by architect Choi Jangwon (Architecture Farm), suggesting various forms of living spaces integrated with media artworks. Additionally, works by Sirin Seno, Yuan Gongming, Chao Pei, and Chai Siris from the respective institutions' media collections are also available.

On the online platform, one video work is posted weekly by theme, and subscribers receive an email guide for each piece. All video works provide subtitles in Korean and English. Viewers can enjoy the artworks by subscribing through membership registration. The platform also features a satellite project titled "Stories Only I Know," offering writings by poets, authors, and critics on personal experiences related to new ways of appreciating contemporary video content, available in both Korean and English.

The video showcase exhibition "At Our Home, Watch and Chill" runs from today until October 24 at Exhibition Hall 6 of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul. After the exhibition ends, it will tour to the Philippines' MCAD (October), Thailand's MAIIAM (December), and Hong Kong's M+ Museum (January 2022). The "Watch and Chill" online platform will operate until February 2022, coinciding with the final tour at Hong Kong's M+ Museum. Subsequently, the platform plans to expand its partnership areas to Europe and Africa in 2022, and North and South America in 2023.

Yun Bum-mo, director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, stated, "The art streaming platform starting this year with four Asian countries will gradually expand to Europe and the Americas, making 2022 the true inaugural year of the Korean Wave in art. We will present Korean art with dignity to the overseas art world, confirm the international competitiveness of the art genre, and lead positive roles in revitalizing the art market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.