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“One Two Three Swing!,” an installation by the artist trio Superflex, at the Dora Observatory in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on May 21.
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“One Two Three Swing!” allows visitors to swing while taking in views of North Korea
“One, two, three — and off we go!” With a shout, the three people on the swing lifted off. Their feet left the ground and rose into the sky, in the direction of North Korea, off in the distance. They could see the peaks of Mt. Songak, and the fields of Kaepung County, where the Kaesong Industrial Complex is located. People were riding on the swing as they looked out at North Korea as part of an event held on May 21 at Dora Observatory, inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ), in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Center stage at the event was a swing-shaped public art installation called “One Two Three Swing!” that was set up over the past few months by a Danish artist trio called Superflex. Jakob Fenger, one of the artists in the trio; Kim Seon-jeong, who planned the Real DMZ Project; and reporters covering the event took turns riding on the swing, kicking off the ground, and swinging through the air in the space between South and North Korea. “One Two Three Swing!” consists of two three-person swings hanging from a structure made of orange metal bars that rise from the ground and twist and turn in various directions. After first setting up the piece at the Tate Modern art gallery in London in 2017, Superflex has been bringing the piece to various places around the world. The piece is designed to channel the energy of cooperation — as people on the swing coordinate their motion to resist the force of gravity — in a range of contexts. The artists offer a fascinating explanation for the metal bars of the structure (which are painted orange to symbolize passion): the bars rise up from the ground in various parts of the world, forming the frame of the swing, and then return to the earth, only to emerge again somewhere else. Dora Observatory is reportedly the fifth place that “One Two Three Swing!” has been set up, after London, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. By being set up in a place that symbolizes the unique circumstances of the divided Korean Peninsula, the piece sheds light on another kind of energy: the passion for unification and reconciliation. “This is a piece that lets us experience for ourselves the power of cooperation by playing on a swing. It feels miraculous that this piece was finally set up along the border of South and North Korea after so much preparation,” said Fenger, one of the artists. Superflex is a public art group that was established in 1993 by Bjørnstjerne Christiansen and Rasmus Nielsen, along with Fenger. They’ve done art projects around the world that raise questions about critical issues for our time, including alternative energy, social and political inclusion, urbanization, and migration.
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SUPERFLEX: One Two Three Swing!, Tate Modern‘s Turbine Hall Commission, London
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