Bolting out of his chair during a press conference at a restaurant next to Gallery Hyundai, artist Tomas Saraceno headed straight for a small maintenance closet where cleaning tools were kept. Saraceno opened the door, looked up at the corners and pointed at a spider web. “There is a work of art,” he said. This rather eccentric Argentine artist based in Berlin was at Gallery Hyundai on Oct. 30 for his solo exhibition, which features a series that has gained attention not just wi

In 1957, a dog was put on Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2, becoming the first live animal to orbit Earth. Some five decades later, it was revealed that Laika, the dog, died a few hours after the launch, due to overheating in the payload caused by a mechanical failure. Kim Se-jin’s video work “Messenger(s)” (2019), on show at SongEun ArtSpace, pays tribute to Laika, as well as those who had to move as part of mankind’s relentless efforts to conquer alien worlds.The work i

A 19th century Korean Buddhist painting has returned home after being lost more than half a century ago. On Tuesday, the Jogye Order, South Korea’s largest Buddhist sect, displayed the painting at the Memorial Hall of Korean Buddhist History and Culture. The large-sized 1891 painting by Joseon-era Buddhist monk-painter the Ven. Minkyu, titled “Guardian Deities of Beomeosa Temple,” depicts multiple guardian deities. The piece, originally owned by Beomeosa, a Buddhist temple

Sitting at the center of Pyeongchon Central Park in the city of Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, is Daan Roosegaarde’s giant outdoor purifier “Smog Free Tower.” Roosegaarde’s seven-meter tall outdoor air purifier is designed to filter about 30,000 cubic meters of air per hour using little electricity. The tower at the park will capture particulate matter and release clean air for the next two years.The Dutch artist’s large-scale air purifier has been installed as part of

The recent rise of machine and computer vision systems not just allow machines to actually see things, but also automatically and seamlessly collects and interprets images for various purposes. An upcoming Seoul exhibition will delve into such technologies and the potential they may hold in understanding today’s world.“Throughout history, images have needed somebody to look at and interpret them. But, that’s changing now. With things like computer visions, we can now build mach

Louis Vuitton on Thursday opened its new Frank Gehry-designed flagship store in Seoul, featuring interior design by Peter Marino.The new Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul, located in Cheongdam-dong in southern Seoul, is Gehry’s first work in Korea, according to the company.The new building features Korean heritage and culture, while maintaining its architectural ties with the Louis Vuitton Foundation’s iconic building in Paris, specifically, Gehry’s large glass-and-steel sails that en

Park Chan-kyong’s solo exhibition “Gathering” is an exhibition that explores what art museums can become in the contemporary world with constant man-made disasters.On Saturday, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art kicked off a solo exhibition of Park, who has been selected as sixth artist of the MMCA Hyundai Motor Series, a 10-year series of solo exhibitions featuring prominent Korean artists, sponsored by Hyundai Motor. “What art language can be possible af

The South Korean national baseball team eked out a 5-1 win over the military club Sangmu on Tuesday in a tuneup game for the upcoming Olympic qualifying tournament. Starter Park Jong-hoo tossed three shutout innings and slugger Choi Jeong had two of the team's seven hits at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, where pitchers generally looked sharper than hitters.Managed by Kim Kyung-moon, South Korea is gearing up for the Premier12 tournament, which begins next week as the Olympic qualification event. Sou

MONTREUX, Switzerland -- Swiss Education Group held its 22nd International Recruitment Forum from Oct. 21-22, inviting 56 hotel businesses from around the world and students from five hospitality schools under the group -- Cesar Ritz Colleges, Swiss Hotel Management School, Hotel Institute Montreux, IHTTI School Of Hotel Management and Culinary Arts Academy Switzerland. SEG students are required to finish two internships to graduate, and the IRF forum -- held twice a year -- is an opportuni

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea is holding the exhibition “The Square: Art and Society in Korea 1900-2019” in celebration of its 50th anniversary this year. 　The exhibition takes place in the three MMCA venues, including the main branch and the Deoksugung branch in central Seoul, Gwacheon branch in Gyeonggi Province. It’s the first time for the museum to hold an exhibition at three different venues.The binding motif for the exhibitions at three separ

Lotte Museum of Art’s exhibition featuring the “Peanuts” gang will satisfy not just family visitors but also fans of fine art and pop art. “To the Moon With Snoopy” shows a wide range of works, from the original cartoon and animation works by Charles M. Schulz and Snoopy-themed decorations to contemporary Korean artists’ works featuring the “Peanuts” characters.  The first section of the show celebrates the 50th anniversary of Snoopy’s

The Korea National Contemporary Dance Company will perform a new production that fuses contemporary dance with traditional Korean music at Seoul Arts Center CJ Towol Theater from Nov 1-3. “Traces of Black Sand” is a collaboration between composer Ra Ye-song and KNCDC Artistic Director Ahn Sung-soo. The two have worked together on contemporary dance and traditional sounds since the 2017 KNCDC production of “Music for Rites - The Afterimages of the Rose.”“‘Trace

Alex Mustonen, co-founder of New York-based studio Snarkitecture, is a creator of unconventional objects and spaces, merging different disciplines, including art and architecture.  Mustonen and his colleagues at Snarkitecture -- Daniel Arsham and Ben Porto -- are widely known for their works that reinterpret everyday structures and materials, transforming them into something utterly new to invite visitors to engage with their surroundings.At Herald Design Forum 2019, Mustonen will talk abou

Instituting an urban renewal plan, especially in a top-down manner, runs the risk of disregarding the actual needs of the people living in the city, or missing the potential benefits that can be derived when the community is engaged in the redevelopment process. The London-based studio Assemble takes a bottom-up approach, setting out to reinvigorate urban areas in ways that benefit communities. Founded in 2010, Assemble boasts a diverse and award-winning body of work. Its democratic and cooperat

Michael Govan is the director of the ever-evolving Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and is in charge of all its aspects, from art programming and collection, to the expanding and upgrading it.At Herald Design Forum 2019, he will discuss the groundbreaking changes that the LACMA has undertaken and his visions for the art world in the future.　 The LACMA opened to the public on Wilshire Boulevard in 1965. William Pereira designed the three buildings on its campus, Ahmanson Building, Bing Center an

Do we need another planet? Ignasi Ribas is preparing for that worst-case scenario in which we really do need an alternative option. Ribas is a scientist who leads an international team of exoplanet hunters at the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia. His work focuses on exoplanet research and precise knowledge of the stars. Ribas is actively involved in instrumentation projects, both on Earth and in space, with the aim of discovering new planets similar to Earth. At Herald Design Forum 2019,

The 13th Gwangju Biennale, directed by Defne Ayas and Natasha Ginwala, is taking shape. The upcoming biennale, titled “Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning,” recently announced its first batch of participating artists as it kicked off the first program tied to the event slated to begin Sept. 4, 2020 in Gwangju.  The lineup for Korea’s largest art festival includes 31 international artists.“We chose artists who are very much engaged within their own diverse geographies, and w

Over the last few years, an aesthetically refined seven-meter-tall air purifier in Beijing became viral in Korea, which shares the Chinese capital’s troubles with smog and fine dust.  That Instagrammable “Smog Free Tower” by Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde did not just suck up air pollution: It also transformed particulate matter into jewelry and then into rings, which people could buy. Roosegaarde is an artist who has been utilizing technologies to raise aware

Discussions about future mobility often involve technologies such as artificial intelligence and autonomous driving and innovations surrounding electronic vehicles. Alexander Mankowsky from Daimlers research unit takes part in such discussions. He looks ahead and keeps track of technological developments aimed at bringing new vehicles that fit future environments.Mankowsky will join Herald Design Forum 2019 to deliver a speech on future mobility and the vehicles of the future that he has been lo

Dave Hakkens, a Dutch designer who launched Precious Plastic, a global network that invites hundreds of people from all over the world to work on solving issues related to plastic waste, is due to speak Oct. 10 at the Grand Hyatt Seoul as part of the Herald Design Forum 2019Hakkens’ goal is quite simple: Make things more sustainable. “The projects I have done have been often related to reducing waste or changing the way we do things so they are more efficient and better for the envir