Installation view of 《Your Search, On-Demand Research Service》 © DOOSAN Gallery

DOOSAN Gallery presents the exhibition 《Your Search, On-Demand Research Service》 from January 16 to February 20, 2019, as part of the “DOOSAN Curator Workshop,” a program for nurturing emerging curators. This exhibition is jointly curated by the 8th workshop participants, Yoo Eunsun, Yoo Jiwon, and Lee Jin.

《Your Search, On-Demand Research Service》 reflects on the present condition of platform capitalism and the art of the younger generation. The exhibition begins with the premise of establishing a platform called “YourSearch,” where curators act as a kind of corporate operators providing research services. The exhibition space is transformed into a fictional promotional venue for launching this new service.

Five participating artists—Dahwan Ghim, Kim Woonghyun, Lee Donggeun, Lee Yoonseo, and Jung Yujin—take on the role of company employees who receive research requests from clients, conduct research, and provide results. Visitors to the exhibition are positioned as potential clients as well as advertisers who might invest in the company. The exhibited works are presented as sample outcomes that allow viewers to anticipate the results prior to making research requests.

Installation view of 《Your Search, On-Demand Research Service》 © DOOSAN Gallery

《Your Search, On-Demand Research Service》 incorporates several critical perspectives. First, it examines changes in the ways information is received and processed in the era of platform capitalism. In the Web 2.0 era, where interactive communication has become fully established, information is no longer merely a means of acquiring knowledge; anyone can become a producer who utilizes and processes given information. The exhibited works reflect how participating artists process information based on web sources. Second, the exhibition addresses issues of unpaid labor and employment instability emerging within platform capitalism, intersecting them with labor issues in the art world.

While the on-demand economy provides demand according to supply, it lacks employment stability and intensifies competition for better services. Meanwhile, in producing an “exhibition,” art professionals collaborate with experts from various fields—designers, spatial directors, and others—commission artists, and outsource numerous tasks, subtly expanding the domain of unpaid labor. Additionally, the project-based nature of the art world further exacerbates employment instability. Through the reality of the art field, which has already internalized the self-driven labor model of platform capitalism, the exhibition calls for reconsideration of curatorial models that “set the stage” or construct platforms.

Lastly, by positioning artworks as potential objects of value exchange and visitors as both consumers and investors in research services, the exhibition proposes a space in which a different form of active engagement in viewing can be explored. It raises the question of whether the act of viewing an exhibition can overlap with the active role of a consumer.

Installation view of 《Your Search, On-Demand Research Service》 © DOOSAN Gallery

For this exhibition, the participating artists present approximately 23 new works alongside 23 existing works. Lee Yoonseo urgently pursues the rapid proliferation and expansion of images in the web environment, recreating them on canvas. In addition to existing works, new pieces will be added in three phases during the exhibition period. Lee Donggeun presents a new work Optical Deception (Sphere): Five Variables for the Sixth Gaze(2018), which likens his own will toward knowledge to the clarity of mathematical and scientific language. Jung Yujin has previously presented sculptural works combining unreal images encountered through comics and media with common architectural materials found in Seoul.

In this exhibition, works such as Merciless Pillar(2019) and The Resurrection of Paul the Psychic Octopus(2019), inspired by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and Paul the Octopus, are shown. Kim Woonghyun produces a fictional travel package to Thailand based on research. In Ranpa Samran(2019), narratives and images are constructed through the intricate overlap and weaving of the artist’s fictional world and reality, offering viewers an experiential space. Dahwan Ghim, based on his exploration of sculptural scale, sensitively responds to the exhibition space and works, installing Hello Human?(2019) throughout the venue to guide viewers’ movement and generate a distinct exhibition experience.

The “DOOSAN Curator Workshop” is a program that discovers and supports emerging curators who present new perspectives in the Korean contemporary art scene. Each year, three curators are selected and engage in lectures, seminars, and workshops led by experts from various fields over the course of one year, exploring both theory and practice in contemporary art. After this period, the three participants collaboratively organize an exhibition at DOOSAN Gallery, providing a practical curating opportunity to materialize their research.

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