Choi Ok-young reveals three art museums and land art works

Land artist Choi Ok-young will appear on EBS 'Seo Jang-hoon's Millionaire Next Door' to introduce her three art museums, her artistic activities, and her journey to becoming a known artist. Choi Ok-young is an artist featured in 5th-grade elementary school textbooks and is considered a 'pioneer of South Korean land art.' The annual visitors to the three art museums she manages total 500,000 people. In the broadcast, the show visits her studio in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, to examine self-portraits drawn on milk cartons, works utilizing waste materials, and large-scale works set against nature.

According to the broadcast information materials, the program will air on Wednesday the 7th at 9:55 PM. The cast members, Seo Jang-hoon and Jang Ye-won, visit Choi Ok-young's atelier, which was converted from an old cold storage warehouse. Choi Ok-young explains that she records her inner self by drawing self-portraits on milk cartons every day, and Seo Jang-hoon attempts to draw a self-portrait on-site.

500,000 annual visitors to three art museums

Choi Ok-young serves as the director of three art museums. One of these is an art museum that was named in the '2020 Korea Tourism Awards' selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Approximately 300,000 people visit this location annually. The broadcast information materials stated that the combined annual visitors to the three art museums reach 500,000. The materials introduce the museum as a landmark of Gangneung and explain that photos of visitors verifying their visits continue to appear on social media.

This broadcast covers the world of Choi Ok-young's works and her process of working as an artist while managing the museums. Choi Ok-young is a land artist who creates works on the ground, using nature as both a workspace and a canvas. The broadcast introduces works of varying scales and the materials and production methods used, centered around her Gangneung studio.

Self-portraits piled up in the cold storage atelier

Seo Jang-hoon and Jang Ye-won visit Choi Ok-young's studio in Gangneung. The studio is an atelier converted from an old cold storage warehouse. One of the works the two encounter on-site is approximately 20,000 self-portraits drawn on milk cartons. Choi Ok-young said, "I am drawing self-portraits every day as if recording my inner self on milk cartons." The work of drawing self-portraits every day using milk cartons as a base is gathered in the studio.

At Choi Ok-young's suggestion, Seo Jang-hoon also draws a self-portrait. Seo Jang-hoon said, "My father was a fine arts major, but he was flustered because his son is so bad at drawing." According to the broadcast information materials, after picking up the brush, he completed the drawing with bold brushstrokes. Choi Ok-young, Jang Ye-won, and the people on-site were surprised by Seo Jang-hoon's self-portrait, and the completed drawing is scheduled to be revealed on the broadcast.

Large-scale works made of steel pipes and wood

Choi Ok-young's work is introduced as having no limits on materials or scale. She created a work visualizing a red bamboo forest using 6,000 steel pipes and presented a work recreating planets of the universe using 200 tons of wood. She also created a work reminiscent of a coral reef path by connecting red hoses. From land art based on nature to works utilizing massive amounts of materials, the broadcast introduces examples of Choi Ok-young's work.

The broadcast materials specifically mentioned the Gangneung art museum, which receives approximately 300,000 visitors annually, and the photos of visitors who visited there. A total of 500,000 people visit the three art museums managed by Choi Ok-young every year. In the broadcast, Choi Ok-young's current life, where she continues both museum management and artistic activities, is dealt with through the studio visit and introduction of works.

Discarded materials and a 1996 work

Choi Ok-young utilizes discarded materials such as plastic wrap used to cover food, waste tires, and rubber in her work. The broadcast also reveals a work where she collects fish cake skewers that were discarded after being sold to customers at events and draws on milk cartons. The way discarded materials are used as artworks is another characteristic addressed in Choi Ok-young's work. The broadcast information materials stated that they would introduce the site using fish cake skewers along with her working method that does not discriminate against materials.

A work made 30 years ago also appears in the broadcast. According to the materials, this work was made in 1996 and takes a form that hangs in the air. While examining the work, Seo Jang-hoon correctly guessed the identity of the material, and Choi Ok-young shared her mother's reaction, who was shocked, saying, "Now you're even kneading this?" Choi Ok-young said, "I became famous thanks to this work." However, the broadcast information materials do not reveal what the material of the work is, introducing it as something to be confirmed during the broadcast.

EBS 'Seo Jang-hoon's Millionaire Next Door' announced that the Choi Ok-young episode will air on Wednesday the 7th at 9:55 PM. The broadcast covers the Gangneung studio, approximately 20,000 milk carton self-portraits, land art works, and works utilizing waste materials.

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