MUSIC FOR THE MASSES: MINOUK LIM’S O TANNENBAUM AT APT10 Reuben Keehan – TAASA Review December 2021

A t its inception in 1993, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT) played host to seven South Korean artists representing a startling range of practices, from Lim Ok-sang, a leading proponent of minjung misul, the ‘people’s art’ aligned with the prodemocracy movement of the 1980s, to a then 29-year-old Lee Bul, representing shinsedae, the ‘new generation’ of the early 1990s. Korean artists have featured in each subsequent APT, among them such illustrious names as Nam June Paik, Lee Ufan, Kimsooja, Do Ho Suh and Haegue Yang.

Memorable moments have included Yun Suk Nam’s scintillating installation Pink Sofa (APT2, 1996), Gimhongsok’s droll reworkings of Jeff Koons and Robert Indiana (APT7, 2012) and Kim Beom’s satirical blueprints for overblown public works that are only slightly inconceivable (APT9, 2018).

This balance of social engagement, aesthetic innovation and wit continues in APT10 through the work of Minouk Lim. Since the 1990s, Minouk Lim has created a striking body of works that confront social inequalities by combining public intervention with song...