No Middle Ground
August 14–November 2, 2025
Seoul 01783
South Korea
Title Match, the flagship annual exhibition of the Buk-Seoul Museum of Art, marks its twelfth iteration in 2025 by presenting works from Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries (YHCHI) and Hong Jin-hwon. This exhibition begins with a critical awareness of the near impossibility of forming a seamlessly connected community in which all the complex interests of its members are reconciled or settled. Through these works by YHCHI and Hong Jin-hwon, the exhibition examines the conditions under which political acts emerge, with both artists exploring how art can intervene in social phenomena and generate new political possibilities.
The exhibition title No Middle Ground is drawn from political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract. By reinterpreting the phrase “there is no middle ground” in relation to the general will, the exhibition seeks to highlight the dynamic state of disagreement among the many, rather than assuming a peaceful consensus among all members of society or diametrically opposite conditions—such as a binary logic of either-or and black and white thinking.
In this context, what matters most is the ability to examine the given situations critically. Through their respective practices, YHCHI and Hong Jin-hwon visualize the tensions and conflicts that exist within communities, demonstrating that art can serve as a space for posing questions and provoking debate. Indeed, their works invite viewers to confront tensions and energies that arise from discord within any community, as well as complex interpretations that resist reduction to binary choices, ultimately encouraging reflection on contemporary phenomena from multiple perspectives.
YHCHI has long produced text-based video works synchronized with intense soundtracks, addressing contemporary phenomena such as capitalism and ideological conflicts, corporate monopolies, and unjust power structures. Through their video work, YHCHI reveals aspects of society that are widespread or overt yet have remained unspoken, while simultaneously delaying or interrupting the transmission of meaning in their texts of their videos. In doing so, they prompt viewers to reconsider social phenomena that have been passively accepted out of habit, encouraging a shift in perspective. In this exhibition, under the theme “THE EXPERIMENT IS DEMOCRACY. FASCISM IS THE CONTROL,” YHCHI presents a series of video installations that deconstruct and reconstruct dominant social conventions through fictional scenarios and literary imagination.
Hong Jin-hwon worked as a foreign correspondent until 2009, but, feeling disillusioned with the fragmented nature of events as portrayed in the media, transitioned to being an artist in order to overcome the limitations of photojournalism. He has utilized a range of media—including photography, web programming, and video—to explore stories (beyond incidents and disasters) which are not exposed to the media spotlight, as well as the layered possibilities embedded in their aftermath. In this exhibition, Hong poses an important question—“Can a photograph awaken the world like a coup does?”—as he investigates the power of photography as a medium charged with the potential energy to catalyze events.
Whereas YHCHI points to the contradictions of contemporary society and seeks to provoke debate through fictional scenarios and literary works, Hong Jin-hwon seeks to awaken the reality-driving power inherent in photographic images as he recontextualizes past events from a present perspective. In this way, they pose the question of whether art truly has the power to bring about change in the world, with neither artist leading a given subject toward a single conclusion or answer in their work. Instead, the artists carefully trace the divisions and conflicts embedded within their works, and foster the awakening of each individual viewer by deferring any definitive conclusion so that viewers can form their own judgements through layered perspectives and interpretations.
Curated by Yoo Eunsoon (Curator, Buk SeMA), with an assistance by Kim Malgeum (Exhibition Coordinator, Buk SeMA)
Supported by Hermès Korea
Sponsored by Gadjet Networks, LG ProBeam, neolook.com, Samhwa Paints Industrial Co., Ltd., Saeroumi, Boksoondoga
Trailer Part I: Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, THE EXPERIMENT IS DEMOCRACY. FASCISM IS THE CONTROL. / Trailer Part II: Hong Jin-hwon, Can a Photograph Awaken the World Like a Coup Does?
