[Sportschosun Kwon Young-han] Installation artist Bae Soo-young will present the open studio project "SIGNAL FOREST: Bae Soo-young Studio NEXT" in Seongsu-dong this August.
The project showcases the artist's creative world, built over the past 20 years. It will present his actual studio, archive, signature installation works, production process, and even the research process for future works in one space.
Through installation works that combine circuits, metal, LED lights, stainless steel, performance, and public art, Bae has explored the relationship between humans and technology, cities and emotions, and wounds and recovery.
His work, which transforms industrial materials into a sculptural language, has been praised for building a distinctive world that reflects on human connection in a technological civilization. More recently, he has expanded his practice by introducing the concept of "Meta-log," his own philosophy of viewing digital and analog, technology and humanity, and the virtual and the real as interconnected relationships, based on his circuit series.
The exhibition began with the process of relocating the Oksu-dong studio, which had long served as the foundation of his creative work. The artist brought together accumulated works, materials, tools, drawings, public art records, and unfinished objects into a new space, reconstructing the studio itself as an installation environment.
The exhibition title, "SIGNAL FOREST," symbolizes this artistic world. For the artist, circuits are not merely electronic components, but the veins of the human body, a map of relationships, and signals that reconnect disconnected beings. Signature installations made of circuits, metal, and light, sculptural works inspired by butterflies and hearts, circuit-board objects, and actual studio tools and archives form an organic environment that shows how the studio expands into a new "forest of creation."
In particular, the project goes beyond simply presenting finished works and proposes the creative process itself as part of the exhibition. Through a live studio and performances held during the exhibition period, visitors can experience the artist's working process firsthand. They can also see his new painterly experiments, which expand from welding-based work to soldering-iron drawings, as well as the research process leading up to his solo exhibition in 2027.
The project was realized through collaboration between Space SIM, a complex cultural venue exploring new relationships between art and space, and BACO Solution, a semiconductor equipment company.
Space SIM in Seongsu-dong secured the venue by holding off on outside lease agreements in order to create an environment for artistic experimentation. As a result, the rapidly changing urban space has been transformed into a place of creation where a studio, archive, and live studio coexist. BACO Solution, which has localization technology for PVD equipment used in semiconductor mass production, joined the project by supporting the exhibition installation and materials. In particular, semiconductor materials and technology are closely aligned with the sculptural language of "circuits" that the artist has long explored, adding meaning as a case of mutual growth in which space, technology, and art come together to create an environment for artistic production beyond simple corporate sponsorship.
"SIGNAL FOREST: Bae Soo-young Studio NEXT" is not simply an exhibition that moves the studio as it is. It weaves together the space where creation begins, accumulated time, and future experiments into a single installation environment, offering visitors a vivid look at the process through which art is created.
Meanwhile, the preview for the exhibition will be held on Tuesday, July 21, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The exhibition will take place at Space SIM on the third floor of E Tower in Seongsu-dong 2-ga, Seongdong District, Seoul. Opening hours are Monday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and visitors are advised to inquire before visiting.
Kwon Young-han, Sportschosun
◇Artist Bae Soo-young
After majoring in art at Osaka University of Arts and its graduate school in Japan, Bae began his first solo exhibition in 2004 and has spent more than 20 years working across installation art, public art, and performance. He has held solo exhibitions at Hyundai Department Store, Gallery Bakyoung, and Gallery NOW, and has participated in domestic and international art fairs such as KIAF and Art Taipei. He has also continued his work in various fields, including the McDonald's Korea ESG project and Seoul public design projects such as the trophy design for World of Street Woman Fighter. His works are held in the collections of Hyundai Motor Company, Osaka International Hospital, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and Seongdong District Office.
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
