The art of karaoke

Young Chang

Lee Bul’s exhibit at the Orange County Museum of Art requires that you

pick up a mike and sing karaoke.

It’s effect, as art, depends on this. And if you refuse to sing, you

need to stand there and watch what happens while someone else does the

singing for you.

Only then will her work, titled “Live Forever,” assume meaning as art.

“Depending on the audience, the meaning constantly changes,” said Lee

over the phone from Korea. In Korea, first and last names are switched.

The exhibit, open through May 5, is made up of three sports car-shaped

pods. They’re white on the outside, with orange, black or light blue

leather on the inside.

Each pod contains a karaoke system, screen and mike. An adventurous

participant is supposed to step into the pod -- partly lay in it actually

-- and sing karaoke with the lid tightly shut while visitors in the

exhibit room watch through the pod’s tiny fiberglass windows.

One of Lee’s two videos -- either “Amateur” or “Live Forever” -- will

play on each of the pod’s interior screens. A big screen accompanies two

of the pods (the third’s in the museum’s foyer), taking up an entire wall

to show those on the outside the two videos being shown inside.

Inside the pod and out, the karaoke singer’s chosen song lyrics will

travel across the bottom of both films.

So though the person singing and the people watching are seeing almost

the same thing, the difference is that the people outside can see the

singer, but can’t hear anything being sung. “It’s like intruding on

someone’s singing-in-the-shower experience,” said curator Irene Hofmann.

“And you watch those lyrics and you know, these are the songs they

chose.”

The selection is made up of classic rock-and-roll numbers including

hits by ABBA, Madonna, the Eagles and Prince.

“They’re like the Top 10 songs, the most famous songs, between the

‘50s and today,” Lee said. “When I think about it, these pop songs are

not made for one person, but made for many people. But [for the person

singing], the songs become a soundtrack to that person’s life.”

Whoever first came up with karaoke probably had no idea what Lee

would do with the concept, both philosophically and artistically.

Not only has the Seoul-based artist taken the form and brought it into

museums around the world, she’s used karaoke to make statements about

everything from the passage of time to the meaning of art and the notion

of having a private experience in public.

“In concept, it’s in many directions,” Bul said, speaking in Korean.

“Everything combines. The past and memory, nostalgia, entertainment and

solitude.”

She said she chose the futuristic-looking model for the pod by

researching what people predicted future designs would look like back in

the ‘50s.

“It’s about the future as seen from the past, the future as seen from

the present,” Lee said.

The videos were filmed by Lee. “Amateur” shows a circle of preteen

girls frolicking and dancing in a ring, and “Live Forever” shows a lounge

act in a San Francisco hotel bar called the Tonga Room. The pod showing

“Amateur” offers only love songs, sweet songs. The pod showing “Live

Forever” offers songs about night life, like “Dancing Queen.”

The person in the pod has no control over which video is played. They

run continuously, combining with different lyrics as the visitors pass

through.

“The two meet and create a completely different meaning,” Lee said.

It’s nearly impossible that two people would ever cause the same scene

and the same set of lyrics to meet.

“It’s an exploration of how a piece of art can have an impact on your

position in your private space,” Hofmann said.

Known for her socioculturally contexted works, Lee’s other shows

involve techniques and imagery from Japanese anime, statements on the

female body and female identity and other multimedia installations that

combine science and technology with art.

“Lee Bul is dealing with issues in a unique way,” said museum

spokesperson Brian Langston. “And that’s at the heart of the unique

nature of art.”

FYI

* WHAT: “Live Forever”

* WHEN: Through May 5. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday

through Sunday

* WHERE: Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport

Beach

* COST: $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students, free for members

and children younger than 16

* CALL: (949) 759-1122