Artist Zin Ki-jong turns Arario Seoul into a broadcasting studio with his solo exhibition ``On Air,'' which runs through March 13. / Courtesy of Arario Seoul


By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

Television is sometimes derided as an ``idiot box,'' but its power to shape reality can't be underestimated. Television is one of the most influential forms of mass media. People often turn to television as their primary source of news, information and entertainment.

Zin Ki-jong, a 26-year old artist, takes a critical look at the power of television, and media in general, with his solo exhibition ``On Air'' at Arario Seoul.

``Beginning in the innocence of childhood, we watch TV, and it's through the TV we learn about the world, even if it's far from the truth, or even manipulated,'' he said.

Zin's work was inspired by his childhood curiosity over whether people shown on black-and-white television are really black and white. He ``questions the unilateral communication and the manipulation of the media using the popular tool, the TV, and the co-existence of truth and falsity that lies within.''

When you enter Arario Seoul, there is a wall of eight television screens showing CNN, Al Jazeera, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, YTN News, History Channel and a Mercedes-Benz car commercial.

The CNN channel shows recreated scenes from 9/11, while YTN channel airs a news report about the stem cell scandal involving Hwang Woo-suk in Korea. National Geographic seems to be airing a nature documentary, while the History Channel appears to be tackling the ``mysteries of the century,'' such as the Loch Ness monster and UFOs.

Yet not everything is what it seems. Behind the wall of television screens, you'll discover Arario Seoul has been turned into a broadcasting studio. Each of the screens is connected to cameras that are focused on eight different, elaborate miniature sets. All the images are broadcast live on the television screens.

What appears to be scenes from 9/11 are just a toy plane circling a miniature tower, with a fake blast next to it; an overturned cup of soda and a toy police car. The footage of a tiger hiding in the jungle on the National Geographic channel turns out to be just a stuffed animal behind potted plants. Even what seems to be a glossy Mercedes Benz ad turns out to be just a model car.

Zin's idea of the director behind the eight channels is a ``predator of the media cycle, manipulating the images to suit his intentions.'' His work does make you think about the role of media in shaping people's views of the world.

The exhibit is an extension of the work he presented at group exhibitions ``Yeol'' at Insa Art Space, and ``Korean Young Artists'' at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in 2006.

Zin, who graduated from Kyungwon University in 2005, is one of the rising media artists in Korea. He has already participated in various exhibitions in Seoul, as well as the ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany and Zaim Museum in Yokohama, Japan.

``On Air runs through March 13. Visit ARARIO GALLERY.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr