Out with the old and in with the new: Rondinone’s 'BURN TO SHINE' opens at Museum SAN

Ugo Rondinone's 'BURN TO SHINE' exhibition at Museum SAN in Wonju showcases colorful sculptures and installations exploring themes of transformation, life and death. The exhibit featuring a film and children's drawings, is open until Sept. 18.

Installation view of ″BURN TO SHINE″ on view at Museum SAN. Shown are the “nuns+monks″ sculptures. [MUSEUM SAN]

WONJU, Gangwon — Ugo Rondinone’s latest and largest Korean solo exhibition at Museum SAN is filled with the 59-year-old Swiss-born artist’s colorful sculptures and installations that beckon thoughts of philosophical topics, like the circle of life.

The exhibition’s title, “BURN TO SHINE,” is rather romantic: It was taken from an excerpt from his late husband John Giorno’s poem, “You Got to Burn to Shine.”

In simpler terms, the exhibition is about the need for transformation and having to start somewhere even if it’s difficult, the artist said in a press conference at the museum on Monday. It’s also based on a Buddhist maxim that teaches the coexistence of life and death, and such meanings are reflected through motifs of the sun and moon.

″burn to shine″ (2022) by Ugo Rondinone [MUSEUM SAN]

A 14-minute-long film of the exhibit’s same name, on view at the museum, is set around the time from sun down to sun up, featuring 30 percussionists and dancers who circle around a fire and perform an African ritual combined with contemporary dance.

The “your age and my age and the age of the sun” (2013-) and “your age and my age and the age of the moon” (2020-) series hits closer to home, as they involve 2,000 drawings of suns and moons from children between the ages of 3 to 12 who live right in Wonju.

The collaboration is dedicated to the children themselves, Rondinone says, because “they are our future.”

It’s also important that museums open their doors to children not just with children’s programs, but just to make them in general “more comfortable,” he says.

Rondinone’s more popular sculpture series, “nuns+monks,” each comprised of a boldly colored, large monolithic stone with a smaller stone on top, reminiscent of a head and body, is also on view. Though they seem entirely made from stone on first glance, they’re actually made from limestone models that were cast in bronze.

Even the reason behind the limestone is poetic and symbolic: Its brittle quality helps Rondinone contemplate the roles of nuns and monks, suggesting the fragility of life.

″your age and my age and the age of the sun″ (2013-) by Ugo Rondinone [MUSEUM SAN]

″your age and my age and the age of the moon″ (2020-) by Ugo Rondinone [MUSEUM SAN]

“My concern is the meditation of nature,” he said. “It’s a meditation that has been embedded in our DNA since the beginning of time. We are not thinking about the pollution; my work is to highlight the beauty of the nature.”

“BURN TO SHINE” continues until Sept. 18. Museum SAN is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Mondays. Tickets are 23,000 won ($16) for adults.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]