Chung Chan-seung (Korean: 정찬승, Hanja: 鄭燦勝, 1942 – 1994), was a South Korean visual artist. He was also known as Chan S. Chung during his time in New York City.
Early life and education
Chung was born in Seoul, Korea. He studied art in Hongik University’s Department of Western Painting. In 1964, while he was still a student, Chung and some of his classmates formed the artist collective Non Col (논꼴, also romanized as Nonggol). Its members included Kang Kuk-jin (강국진, 1939–1992), Kim In-hwan (김인환, 1937–2011), Nam Young Hie (남영희, 1943–), Han Young Sup (한영섭, 1941–), Yang Cheolmo (양철모, 1943–), and Choi Taeshin (최태신, 1942–).
Career
In Seoul, Korea: 1965–1980
Non Col and The New Exhibition Group
Upon graduating from Hongik University in 1965, Chung and other Non Col members began presenting their work in annual group shows and publishing its own publication, Non Col Art (논꼴 아트). Due to changing interests between members, however, the collective disbanded just after its third annual group show in 1967. Chung and some other Non Col members, who became interested in going beyond the Korean Informel movement and its primary mode of painting, formed another collective the following year: the New Exhibition Group.
The New Exhibition Group or the Sinjeon Group (신전동인, Sinjeon Dongin), was established and run by artists including Chung, Kang Kuk-jin, Kim In-hwan, Shim Sunhee (심선희) and Yang Deoksu (양덕수). Along with the Zero Group and the Origin Fine Arts Association, the New Exhibition Group came to represent a new wave of young artists experimenting with non-traditional genres of art, especially through the Union Exhibition of Korean Young Artists they organized together in 1967. Celebrating the opening of the Union Exhibition, Chung and 16 other artists held a street demonstration as an open critique of the Korean art industry. The police arrested Chung during the protest, which marks the first of 40-some arrests to come while working in Korea.
Happenings
It has also been noted that Chung had participated in the performance Happening with Vinyl Umbrella and Candle, which took place during the Union Exhibition. Having taken place on December 14, 1967, the work is understood as the first “happening” to have taken place in Korea, a term popularized by artists to describe “spontaneously occurring incidents,” “struggles to leave the world of art for the society around it,” or “scenarios taking place within a designated place in real time.” Understanding the potential of this type of performance as a public-friendly form of art that could engage in social commentary, Chung began to organize and produce his own happenings soon after.
Transparent Balloons and Nude was Chung's first happening organized with artists Kang Kuk-jin and Jung Kang-ja (정강자, 1942–2017), which took place on May 30, 1968, in the famed C’est Si Bon Music Hall in Myeong-dong, Seoul. The work presented Jung Kang-ja on the stage in the nude for over one hour and a half, during which the audience was invited to blow transparent balloons, attach them to Jung's body, then pop them. John Cage’s music played during the event. Although Jung was not completely naked, Transparent Balloons and Nude has been considered Korea’s first nude performance. Scholars have noted the work’s significance for its strong feminist viewpoint and attempt to use a performer’s body to challenge Korea’s male-centric society and its gaze put upon a woman’s body. The happening, based on Jung’s memory and archived photographs, was reenacted and recorded to be spotlighted at the 2016 Busan Biennale.
Murder at the Han Riverside was the second collaborative performance organized by the same trio of artists. On October 17, 4 pm, Chung, Kang, and Jung gathered under the 2nd Han River Bridge (now Yanghwa Bridge), where they were buried in the ground and dumped with water. The three artists then climbed out of the ground and put on vinyl tunics, on which they wrote “cultural swindler (pseudo-artist) [문화 사기꾼 (사이비 작가)],” “culturally blind (culture phobic) [문화 실명자 (문화 공포증자)],” “culture shirker (idealist) [문화 기피자 (관념론자)],” “cultural fortune maker (pretend great master) [문화 부정축재자 (사이비 대가)],” “culture peddler (political artist) [문화 보따리장수 (정치 작가)],” and “cultural acrobat (artists jumping on the bandwagon) [문화 곡예사 (시대 편승자)].” The tunics were burned after the phrases were read out loud. The act was offered as a blunt and straightforward criticism of Korea's outmoded and conservative cultural establishments.