Celebrate traditional Korean alcohol without the hangover
Though excessive amounts can lead to hangovers and lost memories, alcohol, known as sool in Korean, has been a constant companion for people. It’s often used to celebrate special occasions, bring people together in times of joy, and act as a source of comfort during moments of sadness.
Drinking alcohol is somewhat perceived negatively in our society today, often linked to crimes and accidents, but it’s been a part of human history for much longer than any other food culture and has a deep cultural significance.
In Korea, traditional alcohol is developed based on regional and family traditions, and its taste and aroma are diverse and unique, reflecting the natural ingredients and brewing techniques used in each household. Just like the alcohol itself, which is influenced by the climate and environment, the culture surrounding alcohol is shaped by the people who drink it, passed down through generations with a rich history of taste and style.
OMA Space, a Seoul-based contemporary art, design and craft studio was commissioned by the Wooran Foundation to artistically direct an exhibit that can showcase alcohol as Korea’s cultural heritage, with the aim of highlighting the values surrounding traditional alcohol.
OMA Space’s artist OMA decided title the exhibit “Strolling along the Night.”
The term pungryu has existed since the Silla Dynasty (676-935). Choi Chi-won, a renowned philosopher and poet of the Silla period, said that pungryu combines Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism and changes every living thing it touches. But over time it came to describe the enjoyment of poetry, art and music in harmony with nature. Back in the day, when there were gatherings that involved poetry, art and music, there was almost always alcohol.
Alcohol wasn’t treated merely as a beverage, but as something that stimulated people to write poems, music and paint, as they notice the change of season with the change in the taste of their drinks.
“Pungryu for Koreans during the time was an opportunity to concentrate on themselves and calmly sink into the inner world,” said OMA. “Such an attitude is a must-have for people who currently live a rat-race life today.”
The exhibit space, located on the second floor of the Wooran Foundation in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul, is usually used for the performing arts. But OMA decided to turn this blackbox-like theater into an immersive exhibition hall where visitors can be stimulated through audio and visually to experience “the urge to create,” says OMA.
Five artists display their works — the products of contemplating together about what kind of attitudes people in the past had toward alcohol, reflecting on our current drinking culture and thinking about how this drinking culture should continue in the future.
As soon as visitors walk into this dark space, they’ll be drawn to OMA Space’s installation “Euphoria” which plays ambient music composed by OMA Space’s art director Daniel Kapelian.
On a large circular table, OMA haphazardly laid 20 sacks of husks of grain. They are black because OMA burnt them before placing artworks like alcohol jugs and cups designed by ceramic artists Kim Gyeong-chan, who created the “cosmo-one shot series” and “cosmo-orum series” using clay from Jeju, and Park Song-kuk, who is showcasing the “Hanji Series,” the name he gave for his thin hanji-like jars and cups.
The table is surrounded by a circular panel — made using hand-woven natural hemp — that projects moving images of the reddish plant suaeda japonica that trembles in the breeze — another creation by Kapelian.
“This stage resembles the scenery that would have surrounded Korean ancestors while they were drinking. The landscape, like an ink painting, transports us into that time as we slowly walk along the proposed path and observe the objects,” said OMA. “This moment of contemplation will make the audience feel like they are performers, returning to the time of our ancestors. I hope visitors find tranquility and inner peace and the urge to grab a well-made alcohol as they leave this exhibit.”
In fact, OMA thought about making visitors sit around the large circular table and enjoy a sip of alcohol and really experience their own style of pungryu, “but the foundation wouldn’t allow visitors to drink alcohol here so I had to give up,” OMA said chuckling.
Artist Cho Duck-hyun is also presenting a site-specific installation titled “The Garden of Sounds,” which invites visitors to sit down in front of a large white translucent screen that seems to suggest a different world exists on the other side. In this soundproofed room, Korea’s highly respected composer Isang Yun’s “Escape I (1992/space)” is played.
“The aim of this exhibit is to awaken our senses and elevate our consciousness through a moment of immersion,” said OMA. “This transcendent state enables us to perceive present phenomena in a different dimension, leading us to a new and profound world of sensory experience for our bodies and minds.”
The exhibit is free and runs through Feb. 24.
BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]