New York's New Museum: Thursday through Jan. 24

Ulsan Art Museum: Oct. 22 through Feb. 21

Two new works by Singapore artist Ho Tzu Nyen

New York features AI-driven elevator video

Ulsan deploys 24 projectors for immersive experience

Both museums to co-present annual exhibitions through 2028

A view of "Hyundai Translocal Series: Ho Tzu Nyen," the second exhibition in Hyundai Motor's art partnership program, the Hyundai Translocal Series. [Photo: Dario Lasagni]
A view of "Hyundai Translocal Series: Ho Tzu Nyen," the second exhibition in Hyundai Motor's art partnership program, the Hyundai Translocal Series. [Photo: Dario Lasagni]

Every time a visitor presses a button inside a museum elevator in New York, an AI system generates a new video sequence. A month later in Ulsan, South Korea, 24 projectors will fill the walls of a gallery, drawing audiences into the work. Hyundai Motor is connecting the two cities through an art project that unveils new commissions by Singapore-based artist Ho Tzu Nyen.

Hyundai Motor announced Tuesday that it will present "Hyundai Translocal Series: Ho Tzu Nyen" — the second edition of its art partnership program, the Hyundai Translocal Series — at the New Museum in New York and the Ulsan Art Museum in sequence.

The New York exhibition runs from Thursday through Jan. 24 (local time). The Ulsan showing opens Oct. 22 and continues through Feb. 21.

The Hyundai Translocal Series is a program in which art institutions from different regions jointly research a single theme and develop it into an exhibition. Hyundai Motor supports the project from collaborative research and new-work production through to exhibitions, related programming and publications.

This is the second exhibition in the series, following the first project in September last year. It also marks the first co-curated project between the New Museum and the Ulsan Art Museum, which have been collaborating since last year.

Rather than showing identical works in both cities, the project presents distinct new commissions that reflect the unique spaces and urban character of New York and Ulsan. The shared theme is "power."

The artist selected is Ho Tzu Nyen, born in Singapore in 1976. Working across film, video, sound and multimedia installation, he has explored Asian history, modernity and cultural identity. He is known for blending myth with historical fact to examine how history is written, by whom, and how it is transmitted.

A view of "Hyundai Translocal Series: Ho Tzu Nyen," presented by Hyundai Motor. [Photo: Dario Lasagni]
A view of "Hyundai Translocal Series: Ho Tzu Nyen," presented by Hyundai Motor. [Photo: Dario Lasagni]

At the New Museum in New York, Ho Tzu Nyen will unveil a new work titled "P for Power: Up Down," built around the theme of power.

The installation occupies an unconventional venue: not a gallery, but the glass elevator screens in the New Museum's new building. When a visitor presses a button to move between floors, a life-size child protagonist appears on the screen.

The figure poses questions, riddles and short phrases about power — prompting viewers to consider not only visible forms of power such as political authority, but also the many forces that operate within society and everyday life.

Crucially, the work never repeats itself. An AI-based algorithm generates a fresh video sequence each time a visitor presses an elevator button. The length and content of the video shift depending on which floor is selected and how long the ride takes.

This sets the piece apart from conventional video art, where viewers watch a finished, fixed work. Through a structure that constantly regenerates, the artist expresses his view that history is not a single fixed truth but a process of endless rewriting in which competing forces collide.

In Ulsan, the same theme unfolds in an entirely different form. Starting Oct. 22, the Ulsan Art Museum's dedicated media art space, the XR Lab, will present a second new work titled "P for Power: Double Life of P."

The piece uses the XR Lab's 24 projectors and a three-dimensional sound system to create a multichannel immersive work that envelops the audience. Industrial, technological, material and sonic data collected directly from Ulsan serve as raw material for the work.

In this way, the character of Ulsan itself — a city that anchors South Korea's automotive, shipbuilding and petrochemical industries — is woven into the piece.

Through the two works presented in New York and Ulsan, Ho Tzu Nyen aims to frame power not as something confined to politics or technology, but as a force that generates continuity, change and new possibility.

Massimiliano Gioni, director of the New Museum, and Im Chang-seop, director of the Ulsan Art Museum, said in a joint statement that it was "deeply meaningful" to begin their institutional collaboration through Ho Tzu Nyen's new commissions, which explore the meaning of power within the context of both museums and their cities.

A Hyundai Motor spokesperson said the company hopes the exhibition connecting the two cities will "open up diverse possibilities for dialogue around translocal relationships between New York and Ulsan, and around contemporary narratives."

The partnership between the New Museum and the Ulsan Art Museum will not end with this edition. The two institutions plan to hold a total of three co-curated exhibitions, once a year through 2028, focusing on the intersection of art and technology and exploring themes including cities, people, locality and globality.

Ho Tzu Nyen also serves as artistic director of this year's 16th Gwangju Biennale. His works are held in the collections of major institutions worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Tate Modern in London, the Guggenheim Museum, M+ in Hong Kong and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in South Korea.


kwater@heraldcorp.com