“We live in the best of all possible worlds,” said a prominent German philosopher, Gottfried Leibniz. Though the world may be deceiving people with its unpredictable tricks, there are times when those vicissitudes turn out to be helpful foundations or blessings in disguise. Reflecting back on the world and the human race could be a great step towards creating a better world. In this regard, people can indirectly form their own space through making choices and arrangements in the exhibition, The Best World Possible.

The Best World Possible is a collaboration of the Korean novelist, Jung Ji-don, and ten other young artists. The exhibition has six rooms, each with unique settings and stories. As they enter the exhibition hall, the audience gets to choose which glasses they want to wear in the exhibition: the red glasses to explore the world of redprint where things are unpredictable, or the blue glasses to get into the world of blueprint where everything is predictable. Once people choose the setting of their choice, it is irreversible and they are left to form their own world through reading stories of art pieces provided in the hall.

Visions Outside the Box

In the process of making decisions, people gradually start thinking about their best possible world. For some, the best place would be where everyone is satisfied with what is given, whereas others would only care more about their own happiness. The essence of the exhibition comes to surface as the art pieces start to interfere with the process of thinking. The art exhibited casts questions about the common things that are considered reasonable and brings things that are usually ignored to attention.

Yoo Young-jin’s art raises doubts by utilizing photographs that are usually thought to be objective and realistic. As an artist who tries to grant meaning to people and things that are alienated, Yoo focuses on the distortive features of photographs through his unique viewpoint and sheds further light on the commonly overlooked aspects of society. Park Ah-ram adds to this meaningful connotation with her works that are focused on the act of ‘seeing.’ Through these artists’ meticulous viewpoints, people find themselves caught up in a completely new, atypical world in front of them.

Deceptive Me and Society in the Illusive Media World

One of the inevitable things in the world is media. Kim Hee-cheon and Kwon Ah-ram share the reflection on society and media world, and even talk about the essence of the medium itself. Kwon Ah-ram describes her artwork as the “contemplation of media through media.” This idea is well depicted in her art pieces that carry critical viewpoints toward the illusive features of digital media. This concept gets even deeper in Kim Hee-cheon’s “Every Smooth Thing through Mesher,” a video artwork showing the way people leave traces of themselves in the intangible online space and how these traces are disguised as familiarity. Through the contemplation on a medium and one’s position within it, people have time to think about their status within the best possible medium world.

Choi Yun joins the reflection on the media and society as well. Choiyun’s “Citizen’s Forest” is a video of a place with a cloud-patterned sheet, perceived by people as the real sky. Through the 25-minute video, people may feel confused and start to break the common notions to form a new world. The lovely point of the exhibition is that it shows delicate care and concern taken to encourage the audience to fall into their imagination. For instance, there are some comfortable sitting cushions in front of the screen, so that people can be immersed into the art. Also, the lighting and audio maximize the involvement of the audience. These intricacies make this exhibition a suitable place for one’s imagination to run free.

The Essence of Humans within the Possible Worlds

Over the discourse on society and media within it, one’s best possible world is finally completed through thoughts on oneself. Lee Eun-sae and Park Gwang-soo display art pieces that make audiences think about the essence or role of human beings within the world. Lee Eun-sae’s drawings show human beings at the moment of cracks, which leads to the new figure or image of human beings in certain situations. On the other hand, Park Gwang-soo’s drawing, “Disappeared in Forest,” with the story given next to it, makes people have a deep philosophical reflection on the existence and extinction of human beings.

At first glance, this exhibition could seem a little bizarre because the stories and the video art pieces in the exhibition halls may seem like they have no connection at all and are generally very unique. For those people, the brochure given in the hall as they enter will help structure their exhibition experience. Also, it is recommended that viewers go slowly through the given stories and try to imagine their own possible world. It is even better when various personal experiences are brought together because it is, without doubt, the involvement of a person that determines a genuine appreciation of art.

Through individual contributions of meaning to the given art, people can actually fall into imaginative worlds and think about whatever they believe to be their utopia. This itself has a great value in a society where reflection is often absent. Small pleasures that come in the form of wearing small, cute glasses, and arranging given stories to make books of one’s own maximizes the level of satisfaction gained from the exhibition. Being immersed in the world of your choice — blueprint or redprint — all while being entertained by the characterful artwork of eleven artists will definitely prove to be a worthwhile experience!

Exhibition Information

Title: The Best World Possible
Venue: PLATFORM-L Contemporary Art Center
Period: From December 10, 2019, to April 5, 2020
Opening Hours: 11:00 A.M. to 08:00 P.M. (From Tuesday to Sunday)
Closed on Mondays and national holidays
Price: 8000 won for adults 6400 won for teenagers