Who is an ‘artist’? Are only famous artists who left remarkable achievements behind regarded as an artist? Probably no. Anyone can create their own art, and this means that they are artists. CAH appreciated graduate student artists’ exhibition, ‘2018 Chung-ang Art Festival’. This exhibition, which graduate students of Department of Design and Department of Plastic Art & Photography participated, was held from October 1 through 5, in Seoul Campus of Chung-ang University. How did the artists of Chung-ang University express their own meaning of art?
1)     Craft Design Major, Department of Design
Exhibition name: The 11th MOOR X ROOM Group Exhibition
Location: 301Gallary, 3rd floor of building 301
The name of the exhibition MOOR X ROOM means that graduate students majoring in Craft Design, in the Department of Design, formed our daily ‘room’ by making craftworks made of raw materials from ‘moor’. That is to say, craft can be found all over our daily lives. Most people forget that chairs, desks, drawers, and more, which they use every day, are craftworks done by artists. The works displayed in this exhibition also seemed nothing special at first glance. Entering the gallery, nobody would imagine that the chairs in front of them are part of the exhibition. However, after taking a closer look, they will recognize that these chairs are on display as craftworks and features of the chairs that were invisible, one by one, will become noticeable: the chairs’ block-like shape held together without any screws, the smooth straight curve of their legs, and the fineness of the knot that connects the seat to the legs. Moving on through the gallery, the viewer will encounter other unique craftworks. For instance, a vase, which at first might just have looked like a simple white craftwork made out of glass, will become a special object with a unique design. This process of finding out the meaning of the works was possible due to the message left by the artists, which seems to be that we can easily discover the touch of various artists in the designs of objects all around us.
2)     Visual Design Major, Department of Design
Exhibition name: Design Invasion ‘Trans-Design’
Location: 1st floor lobby of building 302
           We ordinarily use the things around us out of a practical need. However, this means we might easily fail to recognize how much competition and effort on the part of the artists go into every single thing. To give an example, we may not know what forms an ordinary pen we use every day has gone through before its appearance on the market, or how many designers and engineers have competed to create that design. In addition, most things are made to meet practical needs of customers, and customers also use them how they are told. However, the graduate students of Visual Design Major, in the Department of Design, showed innovative perspective about design through giving a new use to the object. In other words, they attempted to escape from the stereotype of the things with the interpretation of the theme ‘Trans-Design’. Seeing the works displayed, CAH could not know what each of them meant. There was no room for interpretation at every angle. Perhaps, this might be what they had intended. There is no need for each object to have a meaning to be considered as an object or an art. The purpose of their exhibition is to name the object itself an ‘art’. If you could not realize the meaning of each piece after seeing the exhibition, you already figured out what the artists intended.
3)     Western Painting Major, Department of Plastic Art & Photography
Exhibition name: Western Painting Open Studio
Location: B201, B203 of building 302
           This exhibition is an open studio, which shows the real working sites of the students. These days, people’s demand of art is increasing more and more. People appreciate art works in several forms such as exhibition, play, musical, and more, but what we see are all gorgeously finished works. Probably, we all know that, behind every work of art we appreciate, is the collaborative effort of many artists. However, in reality, not many know in what forms those works are done unless they are professional artists. The open studio exhibition solved the curiosity of many people. The exhibition showed several artists doing their works for real, and also pieces that were half done, and more other forms of artworks. This surely was a great chance for many students to get closer to the field of art.
4)     Sculpture Major, Department of Plastic Art & Photography
Exhibition name: Bisang9 (Exit)
Location: Grass field of building 310
           The exhibition was done by nine graduate students majoring in sculpture in the Department of Plastic Art & Photography, with their hope of soaring as artists. This is why they named their exhibition ‘Bisang9’ (‘Bisang’ means ‘soar’ in Korean). In their exhibition, CAH could see not only sculptures but also paintings. In addition, many of the artworks were done in the color of blue since the students planned to use the school color of Chung-ang University, which is blue. Each student placed their respective artworks in the wide grassy field of building 310 without any order. The works seemed to be placed according to the theme they had. The arrangement was unusual compared to other exhibitions, which places art pieces in a neat order. For example, in the exhibition ‘Bisang9’, one sculpture, which expressed chicken, was not placed on the ground as usual but rather on top of the roof. This imposed vividness on the work. Moreover, since the exhibition was held just in the middle of building 310 and building 309, which is a dormitory, students could easily access the exhibition.

           2018 Chung-ang Art Festival offered a great chance for many people to think once more about what art is. Graduate students who participated in the festival showed the message of their own art through their artworks, and also specifically revealed how artworks are made and shown to the public. Even though they exhibited their own pieces as students, they are already great artists in that they thought about what art is and put forth lots of effort in order to expand their own world of art. CAH looks forward to their future steps as artists. 

저작권자 © 중앙헤럴드 무단전재 및 재배포 금지