Inhwan Oh and Seo Young Chang explore unstable identity, bodily vulnerability and the creative potential of imperfection

The Buk-Seoul Museum of Art is presenting “Inhwan Oh vs. Seo Young Chang: Human Error,” the 13th edition of its annual Title Match exhibition, through Oct. 25.

The exhibition brings together 23 installations, videos and photographic works by the two artists. Although their practices differ in form and subject, both examine human existence through conditions that cannot be completely controlled or standardised.

The title adopts “human error,” a term generally used to describe mistakes caused by physical or mental limitations. The exhibition instead considers error as a fundamental human condition and a possible source of artistic creation at a time when artificial intelligence and other technologies are increasingly capable of performing creative tasks.

Inhwan Oh’s section, “We’re Not One; Neither Am I,” examines identity as something continually formed and altered through social relationships. His participatory projects, installations, videos and photographs challenge collective norms that attempt to define individuals through a single, fixed category.

Rather than removing himself from social systems, Oh works from within them. He alters familiar behaviours, invites others to participate and allows unpredictable responses—including silence, refusal and chance encounters—to become part of his projects.

His “Aegyo Project” features 15 male actors ranging from their twenties to their sixties performing aegyo, a form of deliberately cute behaviour. Presented across seven monitors, the work reconsiders expectations surrounding masculinity, age and socially accepted conduct.

Seo Young Chang’s section, “Silicon Vanitas,” focuses on the physical body as an imperfect and finite structure. Its title combines silicon, the material underlying semiconductors and contemporary digital technology, with vanitas, an art-historical tradition concerned with mortality and the transience of life.

Chang contrasts the seemingly limitless development of technology with bodies that become exhausted, lose memories, fall ill and eventually die. Her subjects range from everyday experiences outside individual control to malignant tumours and genetic disorders.

Videos and sculptural installations are connected through recurring images and concepts, forming an exhibition space resembling a circuit or conveyor belt. Humour and wordplay accompany the works’ treatment of aging, illness and death.

The exhibition is being held across four galleries on the first and second floors of the Buk-Seoul Museum of Art. Admission is free. Korean-language docent tours are offered daily at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. through Oct. 25.

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