※ Please note: the design is subject to change, GRASSIMESSE, 2018

South Korea as a guest country presents a special exhibition for GRASSIMESSE 2018 at Grassimuseum in Leipzig

Goods, an art fair which emerged as an alternative survival strategy for small-scale studios and later became a cultural phenomenon among younger generations, is a composite representation of today’s Korean society, as well as a phenomenon unique to South Korea. While the publishing market used to treat it as nothing more than a gift of sorts to accompany book purchases, goods has now become the main marketing element for on-and-offline bookstores. Likewise, in the furniture, design, and art markets, customers now have the opportunity to acquire products they covet without much difficulty, due to factors such as a low entry barrier for producers, relatively small-sized products, and readily affordable prices. Due to changes in Korea’s economic and social structures, the number of single-person households has increased, and a variety of products reflecting such an atmosphere have been introduced in various fields. As the number of one-person households increases, consumption and distribution structure itself is also changing.

The Special Guest Country Exhibition of Korea at Leipzig Design Fair GRASSIMESSE, “Please note: design is subject to change”, attempts to introduce this aspect of the current design culture in Korea and its particular cultural characteristics. The title of the exhibition is borrowed from various projects mentioned on the online funding and investment platform, Crowdfunding. Typically, when promoting their projects on such platforms, individual creators or studios introduce a variety of gifts, or ‘rewards’, commensurate with donation amount, which acts to incentivize sponsorship and purchase. These gifts, or ‘rewards’ play a big role in consumption for personal fulfillment, and is closely related to the context of this exhibition. The exhibition title also implicitly underscores the situation in which design can – and is sometimes forced to – change, depending on circumstances and constraints.

In this special exhibition, a virtual display of an anonymous 30-year old Korean creative is planned, with the aim to show the atmosphere of the Korean design scene more comprehensively. This is done to construct a space where one can experience not only the sentiments and preferences of Korea’s younger generation, but also grasp in three dimensions, a sense of the current design scene and the spirit of the times. For the exhibition, a total of 21 teams including Korean graphic designers, small studios, design platforms, and art museums active in various fields have been invited. By simultaneously showing the ‘primary product’ and the goods based on them, that is, the ‘secondary product,’ the theme of how designs are consumed will also be explored.

Curated by Ka Hee Jeong, Sanghyeok Lee, Dokho Shin

Artists: 6699press, BEM (Kyuho Kim, Jieun Yang, Nice Press), kimgarden, Jungyoung Ha, Na Kim, Gwajajun (Park Ji-seong, Lee Yeonjeong, Lee Harim), CAVA (Studio OYE × Gloryhole Light Sales, Noh Sangho, Minkee Bae, Hyunjin Bek, Seo Inji, Sanghyeok Lee × Dahahm Choi), Datz Press, World of DDanjit, LAIFLO (Jeonghwa Seo, Artist Proof), Art Sonje Center (Na Kim, workroom press), Artist Proof, yang jang. (Jong-bum Kwak, Monami, Object Labs, Studio COM, SHINSHIN), workroom press, Sanghyeok Lee, Ilmin Museum of Art (Sasa[44], Sulki and Min), Tastehouse (Sun-pil Don, Hyun-jung Park, Yun-sung Lee, Jackson Hong, Seung-Hye Hong), KBP, Propaganda Press (Minho Kwon, Irang Park, SEOUL METAL, Small Studio Semi, Hey Joe, Graphic Design Department, Gerrit Rietveld Academie), Propaganda Cinema Graphics, Helicopter Records (Moonsick Gang, Ryu Kyung Ho, Mat-kkal, Jaeyoung Park, Shin Dong Hyeok, Shin Dokho, Mean-young Yang, Lee Dozin, Won-Gyeom Choe, Juwon Han, BACON, Shinsuke Takagi)