Confronting the Mystery; some thoughts on Connect, BTS

Julia MG
Revolutionaries
Published in
8 min readJul 22, 2020

“CONNECT, BTS is a global art project to connect five cities and twenty-two artists, each of whom contributes their unique philosophy and imagination to it. This project aims to redefine the relationships between art and music, the material and immaterial, artists and their audiences, artists and artists, theory and practice. CONNECT, BTS may be described in terms of collective curatorial practice by curators around the world who resonated with BTS’ philosophy.”
Connect, BTS

I didn’t know what to expect from Connect, BTS. It appeared to be some sort of global, free art exhibit launched by BTS as part of the release of their new album, Map of the Soul: 7. Neither did I think I’d even be able to make it to Connect, BTS in Seoul. I was working at my old job in Incheon at the time, and when I was finally able to check my phone at work, it was booked for all time slots. My Korean co-teacher, a fellow BTS fan, was convinced I’d get it. She believed I had special luck, that I was a lucky ARMY. Several times each day, I would check the exhibit’s time slots for a cancellation. It became part of my routine for weeks; play BTS World, check Connect, BTS’ website, look for another job. I was in the process of quitting my old job, desperately hoping another school would hire me so I wouldn’t have to start over again or leave Korea.

I was ready for new beginnings in Ilsan, and eagerly awaited BTS’ comeback. Finally, after almost a month, I was able to get a time slot to Connect, BTS. It felt miraculous. I would be visiting Connect, BTS on February 22nd, 2020, 2/22/2020, the day after Map of the Soul: 7’s release.

The day the album was released, I rushed home from work, careful not to slip in the rain. At my job, I was often unhappy, counting down the hours to leave, and on that day, time felt especially slow. As soon as I got home, I spent several hours immersing myself in the new album. Time seemed to freeze again, and I remember crying an obscene amount, experiencing the full range of human emotions. When I checked again, it was 3am, and I soon had to be at Connect, BTS.

The following day, I listened to Map of the Soul: 7 during the ride on the Seoul subway, tearing up a little more under my mask, but feeling emboldened at the same time and teeming with raw energy. I arrived early at Dongdaemun History and Culture Park, so I bought a coffee and spent some time writing. These are my two entries from that afternoon;

12:30pm: These are my thoughts before viewing Connect, BTS.

This is going to be a strange weekend, my last weekend in Incheon, absorbing Map of the Soul: 7 and attending Connect, BTS. I’m sitting outside, patiently waiting my turn to go in. The hallway is massive but silent. I’m facing a huge glass wall, and I can see other ARMY from the previous timeslot enjoying the exhibition, against the backdrop of BTS’ signatures.

Maybe I’ll always be like this; OK, but not OK, fearless and afraid, destined to repeat this dance of intense emotions. Or maybe it’ll get better. All I know is that my path is both changing and staying the same. I’m moving to a better place, but I’m still me. That ‘me’ will hopefully keep growing and loving. Some days I doubt myself, and some days I live fiercely. My life and Bangtan keep swirling together and apart and it’s so strange, but I can’t imagine it otherwise.

Every day since I’ve been in Korea goes unexpectedly as I keep running forward. I didn’t expect to be here at Connect, BTS today, all those weeks ago. All I can do is take care of myself, and continue to love stubbornly, deeply, and loyally, like I always do. I hope I can build the life I imagine in Ilsan soon, even if it takes time. I feel really lucky to be in Korea at this very moment.

2:00pm: These are my thoughts after seeing the exhibit.

There were two exhibits that really struck a chord with me emotionally. Unfortunately, when it comes to visual art, I often feel ignorant. To me, art has always felt slightly inaccessible, something you should be familiar with because it is considered an important part of culture but feel sheepish doing because of a serious lack of background knowledge. Despite my lack of background knowledge, I did feel moved by these exhibits, especially given my conditions at that time.

I first visited Ann Veronica Janssens’s exhibit, Green, Yellow, and Pink. This exhibit had a separate line, and you could only enter this large room once during your time at Connect, BTS. Inside, it was dense with fog and alternating colored lights. The fog was extremely disorienting. It felt like the moment when I step off a plane into a new country, only I was met with total silence instead of languages I do not know. I stumbled around and it seemed like nothing existed. Slowly, I saw my feet and outstretched hands. I knew it wasn’t real, but my brain couldn’t process it all, and I felt not quite real myself. Eventually, the tour guide called out in Korean, and I began to panic. How will I find the door? I don’t know enough Korean to understand his instructions. There was a bell chiming, and eventually I stumbled my way to the exit, feeling relieved.

My favorite exhibit was Yiyun Kang’s Beyond the Scene projections. It feels harder to describe. You went into a large, dark box-like room with projections on all four walls. I sat on the floor next to the other K-ARMY (Korean fans of BTS), looking around me until the video began. It was a series of moving images, some related to BTS. For example, at one point you could see the impression of seven dancing bodies behind a cloth. Other segments included digital images transitioning into one another. These were particularly intriguing.

At first, the images reminded me of the way that the internet feels — spiky, limitless, pooling, graceful, disturbing, bonding. I felt like I saw one being under a microscope. Another projection included a series of abstract images that reminded me of pumping organs, blood made of silk, and jagged flowers made of bone. An image of innumerable points of light made me think of how the many form an even greater whole, which reminded me of internet communities and the unlimited knowledge existing simultaneously online. It also gave me a visual of the size and scale of ARMY feeling deeply together all around the world in unison.

Overall, I found the exhibits to be mysterious, universal, and beautiful. They were a little bit scary but also very human. I felt a connection to something that was simultaneously relatable but also frustratingly larger than I could conceptualize. Therefore, Connect, BTS is an appropriate name. Afterwards, I felt peaceful, tired, over-caffeinated, and ready to face the world again.

These are what I took away from Connect, BTS:

Connect, BTS included radical art and artists. At other cities, these included artists who had queer and indigenous perspectives as well as environmentalism. I am cautious about making any generalizations about Korea, because I know my experience is limited. I see too many foreigners do this, and I don’t think as an outsider, it’s right to comment about other people’s culture. However, it is true that it can be quite conservative in some ways, so choosing such progressive artists is a bold move in my opinion. From what I saw as well, BTS didn’t seem to get a lot of coverage from within Korea about the CONNECT, BTS exhibits. Most of my non-ARMY friends only heard about it through me. I think BTS’s choice of artists demonstrates their values, and it gave me a lot of hope.

BTS are making art a little more accessible: I didn’t grow up in environments where I could explore art outside of school. What interests me about Connect, BTS is the idea of making art from diverse and progressive artists available to people who enjoy BTS content, which is often considered pop culture, rather than art. Through their exposure to BTS, people can reflect on something they might not have gotten the chance to reflect on before. Maybe others felt similar shame as I did about their ignorance towards art. They also had some text available at the exhibit that provided insight into the artists’ intention. Of course, the exhibits could have been much more accessible, given how hard it was to get a spot. It was a shame that COVID-19 cut the exhibits’ running time short and limited the coverage of these exhibits, so many people weren’t even aware of it.

What is Art?: I’ve often wondered what art even is. Growing up, I played a lot of video games, and wondered if they could be considered art due to their visual, emotional, musical, and narrative qualities. As I got older, I started to believe that art could only be found in museums, that something could only be art if it was expensive and fawned over by connoisseurs. I thought that to become an artist meant studying technique for years at established institutions.

Now, I honestly don’t know what is and isn’t art. If I tell people I like BTS, they see it as me liking pop stars rather than liking artists. I’m not sure why it’s like that, or if there is a difference, but I see them as artists who are working in the pop industry. Is it the fact that it’s commercialized or popular which makes it something other than art? If so, are things like say, video games not considered art due to consumerism? It’s very unclear to me.

Can I make art?: Map of the Soul: 7 seemed to revolve around who BTS are as artists, and it made me reflect about my own relationship to creativity. I’m still figuring it out, and this writing is a start, but I have a long way to go. Each time I listen to a BTS album, I learn a little more about myself.

To be ARMY is to meet at intersections: I attended Connect, BTS at a difficult but hopeful time in my life. As I said, it seems like we keep meeting, Bangtan and myself, at important crossroads and they help me through. I will always remember this precious memory, and I feel glad that I recorded it.

--

--