Cinema Behind the Orange Gate
November 30 – December 30, 2014
Public Storage 663 Terminal Ave, Vancouver
 
Curated by Sojin Kim
artwork by Byungseo Yoo
photo by Byron Dauncey

Byungseo Yoo is also well-known for his participation in Korea’s controversial reality TV show, Art Star Korea, broadcast in March–May 2014. The show featured fifteen contestants, a celebrity host and a panel of powerful arts professionals tasked with evaluating and eliminating one artist per week based on their ability to create modern art in response to specific challenges. Disposable Cinema (2014) was first presented on Art Star Korea in a segment requiring a group of five artists (including Yoo) to execute works on the theme of “temporary life”; after the exhibition, all the artworks were purposely discarded. 

This short-lived piece is being shown in Vancouver at Public Storage, a modern garbage dump of sorts, where people come to store the junk that clutters up their lives. Unlike all the other objects in storage, however, Disposable Cinema is the only one that forlornly continues its lonely mechanical labour behind the orange gate. 

Public Storage is a real estate investment trust (REIT), self— described as “among the largest landlords in the world.” As an exhibition space, Public Storage is entirely unique, as it lacks and even neglects any notions of productivity and movement. Without windows or a proper ventilation system, Public Storage is inadequate for human habitation, suited solely for the display of unused—even useless—objects. We situate Byungseo Yoo’s Disposable Cinema in Public Storage facility by renting a unit for a month to emphasize the futility of the arts within “corporatized” real estate/land development system, believed by some to be stifling the development of a vital arts economy in Vancouver.

Many thanks to the following individuals and organizations for their generous support of this project: Centre A, Satellite Gallery, Back Gallery, C&N Backpackers Hostel, The Korea Daily, Daniel Joen, Parm Johal, Woojin Kim, Monica Reyes. Special Thanks to: Centre A (Supporting Organization); Dan Choi (Promotional Design); Byron Dauncey (Photo Documentation); Tyler Russell (Curatorial Mentorship); Jennifer Webb (Editing)