Don’t you think it is too cold to play outside? You want to enjoy both outside and inside activities; however, it is hard to meet halfway, isn’t it? But don’t worry. We have the perfect exhibition that fits your condition. The name of this amazing art show is < Christian Boltanski: 4.4>. On October 15th, the Busan Museum of Art opened a new yearly planned series of Lee U-Fan and his friends. This exhibition is held on the 3rd floor of the main building and the 1st floor of the Lee UFan building placed outside the museum.

   Christian Boltanski, the protagonist of this fair, is a French contemporary artist and a talented movie director. He is of Jewish descent, and this influenced him a lot. Born after World War II, the aftereffect remained for a couple of years, so Christian's childhood was totally in the boundary when the Jewish were venially discriminated. He could not avoid witnessing the death of Jewish people, whether directly or indirectly. On that account, the experience of facing those callous realities laid the foundation of his world of artworks. We could easily find that the keyword “death” originated from those.

   The exhibition hall is divided according to three themes. Departure, Arrival, and Afterward imply each step of life and contain various artworks matched to the text. Overall, the art pieces are made by using specific objects such as lightbulbs and photographs. Through it all, I would like to introduce some of the impressive works that I saw. First, “Animitas,” released in 2014, means “small spirits” in Spanish. Moreover, in Chile, small houses made to commemorate those who accidentally lost their lives on the streets or roads are also called Animitas. The background of the video artwork is the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth. The total running time is nearly 13 hours. Hundreds of bells are constantly directed to make authentic sounds, and it fosters the feeling as if the audience is in the actual site. Thousands of political prisoners killed under Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship have been buried there, and many remains are still missing. It is said that people visit there a lot to find traces of their loving family. Second, “Canada,” which was first shown in Toronto Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation. “Canada” refers to a warehouse that leaves the personal belongings of the Jewish. This enormous masterpiece is significant as it’s the beginning of the extensive installation work of Boltanski using a particular material. The clothes left behind seem to represent the absence of the people and relics of faded memories, which can be linked to “death.” The collection is composed of dozens of old clothes and gives a tremendous sense of overwhelming impression throughout the viewing. The last one is “Twilight.” This was reproduced in 2021 using 165 light bulbs set to be powered off one by one every day. At first, it starts with a very bright state, but at the end, it turns into a completely dark state because of its time-progressive work. This also implies the tranquil flow of life through the on-off of the light bulbs. Therefore, you can be touched differently every time.

   This exhibition is meaningful as it has the most extensive retrospective. Moreover, it is the artist's first posthumous exhibition since the individual one at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art was held. Works that imply Boltanski's inner philosophy remind people of life and death that are unfamiliar in daily lives. Now that the year is almost over, how about organizing your thoughts by visiting this special exhibition? Take your time, settle your mind by enjoying “Christian Boltanski: 4.4”!