Korean artists Moon Kyung-won and Jeon Joon-ho met in 2007 when they were both growing tired of the politics of the art world.

It prompted them to ponder on the role of art from scratch.

The 43-year-old artists’ search for the answer has eventually taken them on the path to Kassel Documenta, the world’s largest contemporary art event — only the second time Koreans have been invited. They also won artist of the year by the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea.

“We wanted to break the high wall surrounding contemporary art. In the old days, art could be science, philosophy, sorcery and take many forms. But starting at some point, artists strove for professionalism and built a barrier between themselves and other fields. We thought it was time to break the walls and return to the most basic form of art,” said Jeon.

They embarked on a project titled “News from Nowhere” (derived from the classic book of the designer and social activist William Morris on Utopian socialism) and created a film, installation and publication that seeks the role of art and its social function.

Moon and Jeon imagined an apocalyptic world to think about the role of art on zerobase and created the 13-minute film “El Fin del Mundo (The End of the World)” as a result, starring Korean actors Lee Jung-jae and Lim Soo-jung, who offered their services for free.

“The scenario is based on our Gmail chats. When Moon was in Seoul and I was in Busan, we talked over Gmail about many things regarding art and developed them into a scenario.

But as the project developed, we recognized a certain limit to words and adopted symbolic and metaphorical methods to the film,” said Jeon.

Moon and Jeon found a common aesthetic taste, which helped them continue the project despite their differing personalities.

Moon sometimes put a break, evaluating many aspects of their work, and Jeon added momentum to the project, which kept their project moving forward.

“We are very different, but there were points where we understand the core value of art and shared the same aesthetic taste,” said Moon.

“The project required us to meet many people and the meetings were set up only when we reached an agreement on details about the interviews. Sometimes artists never settle on something they think differently about, but fortunately we had the same opinion on those points where we might have differed. And that created the synergy,” said Moon.

The artists interviewed 16 experts in their fields of art. They met big-name figures such as poet Ko Un, movie director Lee Changdong, fashion designer Jung Kuho, and Japanese architect Toyo Ito as well as an architect group MVRDV.

Some of the designers and architects they met also took part in the  collaborative installation piece titled “Voice of Metanoia,” which recreates lifestyle and daily necessities for survivors after the apocalypse based on the story of their film.

Each expert created what they thought would be necessary for human beings in the post-apocalyptic world — Jung created clothes for the future; Japanese design and engineering group TAKRAM came up with an artificial organ system that automatically supplies water to every part of a human body; and architect Ito suggested a new housing and urban lifestyle.

“We were just unknown local artists and they were top figures, who had  established their reputations over many years. It was hard to make them understand the purpose and vision of our project. Plus, we had to make sure we were not taking advantage of their names,” said Jeon.

Moon and Jeon said they learned a lot from the interviews, which have inspired them to create more projects in the future.

“Each word was like a jewel. Movie director Lee Chang-dong said calmly over a cup of tea that ‘If religion provides answers to our life, art, in return, questions this life,’” said Jeon.

A compilation of the interviews and essays contributed by interviewees with pictures and drawings that offer different answers to the role of art has been published as a book. The book, published by Workroom Press, can be purchased at Amazon.com or bookstores in Korea.

The Moon-Jeon team will start what they hope will be a touring exhibition in the U.S. next year. Funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation, the team will open an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in September 2013.

“We would like to hold seminars and workshops with citizens so that our exhibition doesn’t just tour cities without producing any communication with the local citizens,” said Moon.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)