The 2016 Busan Biennale is offering art enthusiasts a chance to glimpse the present and future of visual art.

Under the theme "Hybridizing Earth, Discussing Multitude," the event opened this year on Sept. 3, featuring works by 121 artists from 23 countries, including France, Italy, China and Japan.

Of the many artworks on display, one in particular has been drawing crowds since the opening. Titled "Hybridizing Earth," the interactive piece by Korean media artist Lee Leenam has the artist painting with a "tilt brush" wearing a set of virtual reality (VR) goggles. The tilt brush is a new piece of equipment developed by Google that allows the user to create 3-D works of art on a virtual canvas. Visitors can participate in the making of the artwork by adding their own lines and colors to the piece, using Lee's pre-designed images as backdrop. Once they are done painting, they can get a printed copy of the work they've created to take home.

"The piece 'Hybridizing Earth' is one that the artist, together with the audience members, creates using Google's software," said Lee. "I hope that the exhibit will provide an opportunity to experience a new technology, and get rid of the preconception that media art is difficult to fully understand."






In another section of the exhibit, French artist Orlan showcases a selection of her artworks that use her own body as a source of inspiration. In a series of recent works titled "Beijing Opera Self Hybridization," the artist grafts on Beijing opera masks using interactive technologies. Using Augment, an augmented reality app, she transposes herself onto a work of art decorated with patterns inspired by the Chinese opera masks. Audience members are invited to download the mobile app, from which they scan the artwork's QR code, and watch an avatar of the artist perform acrobatics from the Beijing opera on their smartphone.





Meanwhile, a sign posted in front of Chinese artist Zhou Wendou's work "ADHD" warns: "Beware of ink splatters." The circular structure, 2 meters in diameter, is an installation piece that spurts black ink from its crown. While the ink gushes down, more than 20 'windscreen wipers' installed on the surface make repeated movements to remove the flow of ink.





In addition to the various types of media art, this year's biennale has an exhibit dedicated to the avant-garde artists from Korea, China and Japan who experimented with different forms of conceptual art up until the 1990s. A collection of some 148 artworks put together by curators from the three countries, including Kim Chan dong, Guo Xiaoyan and the J-team trio - Sawaragi Noi, Tatehata Akira and Ueda Yuzo - provides insight into the similarities and differences between the avant-garde movements in the three neighboring countries.

The 2016 Busan Biennale runs until Nov. 30. More information on the artists featured can be found at the official website below.

http://www.busanbiennale.org/

By Lee Hana
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Busan Biennale
hlee10@korea.kr