Artist Ryu Sung-sil Takes on Capitalism in new Interactive Art Exhibit

After winning the 19th Hermes Foundation Missulsang last year, Ryu showcases solo exhibition “The Burning Love Song.”
Starting a few years ago, the newly coined term “bulmeong” – staring at the fire in a trance, like when one stares at a campfire – has become prevalent among young people. The expression is usually associated with “healing” or “emptying one‘s mind” while watching a burning fire, but sculptor and media artist Ryu Sung-sil added a twist when she named her solo exhibition at the Atelier Hermes in Seoul “The Burning Love Song.”
“What I wanted to focus at the exhibition was ‘bulmeong,’ which means to stare at a burning fire. I think that could also include someone’s house burning down. People enjoy watching others’ downfall with their arms crossed. And there are those who would ‘bang their head against a calculator‘ to manipulate that for their gain,” Ryu said on Thursday during a press interview, referencing a Korean idiom meaning someone who exploits situations for profit.
The 29-year-old artist won the 19th Hermes Foundation Missulsang last year, becoming the youngest artist to ever win the award. She has captivated audiences with the character BJ Cherry Jang – who Ryu performs as on platforms such as YouTube and AfreecaTV – blurring the lines between art and reality. South Korea’s one-person media trend, where fake news overflows, is critiqued by the bold character in her satirical style.
Ryu invites audiences to a world that revolves around the characters Lee Dae-wang (Mr. Big King) and Natasha. Lee used to run a travel company, Big King Travel, which faced financial problems in the aftermath of the pandemic. He decides to open a dog funeral service as a way of making money.
Lee focuses on dogs, as they live shorter lives than humans, which means a relatively fast turnover rate for business. He is an ambitious entrepreneur who wishes to operate an airline one day after earning enough money. Natasha is Lee’s employee and marketer of the funeral business.
The video played at the exhibition entrance shows information about the deceased -- a dog – with Lee speaking about the funeral business. “I did not want to do a funeral business, but if it were not for me, who would understand the hearts of our grieving customers?“ Lee said.
"Often, I see the passion for money in the business people around me, including my family, and I am often impressed by their innocence and creativity. I think that creativity is not an innate ability but a by-product of desperation. But their creativity is sometimes expressed in the form of pure evil, which creeps me out,“ Ryu said during a conversation with artistic director Ahn So-yeon.
Source: Park Yuna, The Korea Herald (July 2022)
Starting a few years ago, the newly coined term “bulmeong” – staring at the fire in a trance, like when one stares at a campfire – has become prevalent among young people. The expression is usually associated with “healing” or “emptying one‘s mind” while watching a burning fire, but sculptor and media artist Ryu Sung-sil added a twist when she named her solo exhibition at the Atelier Hermes in Seoul “The Burning Love Song.”
“What I wanted to focus at the exhibition was ‘bulmeong,’ which means to stare at a burning fire. I think that could also include someone’s house burning down. People enjoy watching others’ downfall with their arms crossed. And there are those who would ‘bang their head against a calculator‘ to manipulate that for their gain,” Ryu said on Thursday during a press interview, referencing a Korean idiom meaning someone who exploits situations for profit.
The 29-year-old artist won the 19th Hermes Foundation Missulsang last year, becoming the youngest artist to ever win the award. She has captivated audiences with the character BJ Cherry Jang – who Ryu performs as on platforms such as YouTube and AfreecaTV – blurring the lines between art and reality. South Korea’s one-person media trend, where fake news overflows, is critiqued by the bold character in her satirical style.
Ryu invites audiences to a world that revolves around the characters Lee Dae-wang (Mr. Big King) and Natasha. Lee used to run a travel company, Big King Travel, which faced financial problems in the aftermath of the pandemic. He decides to open a dog funeral service as a way of making money.
Lee focuses on dogs, as they live shorter lives than humans, which means a relatively fast turnover rate for business. He is an ambitious entrepreneur who wishes to operate an airline one day after earning enough money. Natasha is Lee’s employee and marketer of the funeral business.
The video played at the exhibition entrance shows information about the deceased -- a dog – with Lee speaking about the funeral business. “I did not want to do a funeral business, but if it were not for me, who would understand the hearts of our grieving customers?“ Lee said.
"Often, I see the passion for money in the business people around me, including my family, and I am often impressed by their innocence and creativity. I think that creativity is not an innate ability but a by-product of desperation. But their creativity is sometimes expressed in the form of pure evil, which creeps me out,“ Ryu said during a conversation with artistic director Ahn So-yeon.
Source: Park Yuna, The Korea Herald (July 2022)
More Korean Innovation News

The American Bansang Experience
15 hours ago
Chef Kim Sea-kyeong recently opened his restaurant Daon Bansang in Seoul which blends the bansang experiance with Western cuisine. Bansang is a traditional Korean dining method that consists of different dishes for one person. Read more about his career here!

Healthy Gamer: Breaking Gaming Addiction
2 days ago
The best antidote to the digital addiction is self-understanding according to Harvard-trained psychiatrist Alok Kanojia. He has been using Twitch, a livestreaming platform, to talk to people about their mental health. Read more about gaming and digital addiction here!

The Eco City: One Stop Shop Farming
6 days ago
A South Korean agricultural corporation Eco Farm City has developed what it calls "KDS convergence farming". This type of farming systematizes the cultivation, production, processing, manufacture, sales, and retail process of farming into a collective "one-stop system". Learn more about KDS farming here!

Cursed Bunny and other Popular K-Books
7 days ago
Translated literary works won or were nominated for four awards outside of Korea this year. More than 150 works in 27 languages were published overseas and they showed growing diversification of genres from science fiction to fantasy and mystery. Discover more about the growing popularity of Korean literature here!

The Newly Minted: How Much the Wealthy Really Earn
9 days ago
The Korean Wealth Report defined being wealthy as having over 1 billion won in financial assets. Minimum seed money for accumulating wealth was 820 million won ($630,000) by the age of 42. Of that group, 44.8 percent said they considered themselves to be wealthy. Read more here!

Painting With Music: The Visual Pianist
13 days ago
Pianist Kim Su Yeon is the first Asian winner of the Concours Musical International de Montréal. The Salzburg-based pianist will meet local audiences through a five-concert series. Read more about her work and upcoming debut album here!

All-In-One Makeover Photo Studios for Everyone
14 days ago
Photo studios are evolving into one-stop beauty shops offering makeovers and photo shoots. Despite the high cost, makeover photo shoots deliver what young generations want. Learn more about these photo studios here!

Men of Plastic: How the K-beauty Business Began
Veteran Korean-American actor Don Lee returns in his new film “Men of Plastic” which is about the rise of the K-beauty business. Lee plays Dae-kook, a plastic surgeon who starts a business with Ji-woo (Jung Kyoung-ho). Read more about the film here!

Tackling Video Game Addiction
As video games balloon in popularity, video game addiction becomes more and more of a real problem. Healthy Gamer is an organization that aims to tackle the problem that many people now face. Read more here!