Title of art	전국노래자랑-부산, 중구/National Song Contest?Junggu, Busan			Sector	Photo (사진)
Art specifications	68?52cm			Material technique	Digital Pigment Print
Collection year	2014			Production year	2014
Gallery	Seoul Museum of Art			Artist	Byun, Sonn Choel
Description of art	In “National Song Contest?Junggu, Busan” (2014), Byun wants to reveal the bare face of Korean society by capturing the TV show’s participants whom he interviewed after the show of all ages, their extraordinary outfits, and the deep desires that they wish to vent on stage. This series depicts people living in today’s capitalistic society and serves as Byun’s research on his contemporaries’ psyche. The photographs feature the contestants behind the stage of the TV show National Song Contest in order to cast light on Korean society from the perspective of the ordinary, not of authority, revealing the many faces of Korea’s capitalistic society. In fact, the work was embarked as a simple record and research of people today, but by paying meticulous attention to the subjects’ facial expressions or postures, Byun successfully portrayed their mentality in detail, peering into their inner-self against the backdrop of the landscape. He once described the series as “a scene from an intense psychological game and the awakening of our paralyzed intellect” because the photos capture the moments when the contestants let go of their social status or norms upon stepping on stage, and naturally transform into someone else as if they have instantly fallen into a world of fantasy and desire.
Address	61, Deoksugung-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul			Source	Seoul Metropolitan Government