Kim Namjoon’s love of art is clear through his regular social media posts of the pieces he sees in his travels to different museums and exhibits, along with his own growing collection of art in his home and studio. His posts are curated in aesthetics and thought, his eye for composition and vantage apparent in his selections of photos. Immersing himself in the spaces he visits, he provides a pleasing documentation of both his personal style and presence as well as the works he encounters along his journeys through visual art environments. Beyond simply giving us a window into the world of fine art, however, Namjoon also provides deeper layers of context for his tastes and influences as both an artist and observer - elements of the physical works he admires lacing with those of the musical works he creates.
Art is often both an expression of internal maps of thought and external circumstances of culture and environment and how those interplay with each other. When we look at the art that Namjoon shares through his posts, we see patterns of shapes and forms, color palettes, and gestures that give more paths to the thoughts behind them than explicit writings or realistic life drawings. These works lean more towards the side of impressionist and abstract works, both in two-dimensional and sculptural formats.
Impressionism is most famously associated with painters such as Claude Monet; Jackson Pollock might ring a bell in terms of abstract artists. Impressionism uses layers of color, brushstrokes, and gestures that look formless individually to create complete images, often having a softer and almost dreamlike feel in comparison to the stark shapes and colors of movements like Cubism and Expressionism. (Although all of these styles are significant and captivating in their own ways.) Abstract art has much broader parameters, existing as art that does not provide a clear form in its subject matter. Rather, it focuses on the amorphous shape and color of thought underneath all the layers of an object or being’s physical state, a movement that puts the idea of something onto the plane rather than the literal image of that something. Sculpture and installation art create images with a three-dimensional presence - new material existence being created rather than a picture on a flat surface. Of course, none is less important or poignant than the other. Put simply, art molds the essence of physical things into depictions of concepts and emotions.
Namjoon seems to mold his musical works in a similar fashion to the impressionistic elements he is often drawn towards in his museum and curation ventures. Where a visual artist takes tangible objects and shapes them to express different feelings and thoughts than their original state, Namjoon does the same with words. In one series of photos he shared to Instagram, Namjoon included a picture of an installment of “Untitled (Perfect Lovers)” by Felix Gonzalez-Torres. This piece is two clocks set in sync but slowly separating in pace over time as one slows and eventually stops. The piece was made in tribute to the artist’s partner’s living and passing away through HIV and AIDS. As one clock or heartbeat, ticks on, another slowly ends its rhythm, though the two are side-by-side the entire time. Namjoon highlights the inevitability of time and change in his own work. In “everythingoes,” he notes that “like morning comes after night goes… everything must suffer.” Both artists present the concept of unavoidable change and challenge in a simplistic yet profound format. There is no sugarcoating or avoidant metaphors shrouding the sentiments. Their impact is in their honesty. There is something comforting about the absence of patronization from Namjoon’s discussions on life and human emotion. His lyrics are poetic and moving without feeling disconnected from the raw core of thought and feeling.
Connecting with current artists’ works in the selections at the Seoul Museum of Craft Art, Namjoon shared some beautiful sculptural pieces in another recent Instagram post. The ties between their artistry can be found here, as well. As Marianne Huotari hand-shaped every tiny, rounded piece of clay that made up the colorful form of her piece “Ananasakäämä,” Namjoon expresses in “Trivia: Love” how someone rounds the edges of a syllable to turn a person (saram/사람) into love (sarang/사랑). As Dahye Jeong weaves a geometric pattern into a three-dimensional design out of the delicate material of horse hair in “A Time of Sincerity,” Namjoon weaves the delicate nature of words with melodies and beats to create balanced and impactful songs.
The artistry of this process goes beyond simply making a track that sounds good or writing lyrics full of deep emotions. Much like you can put too much dark paint on a canvas and make it muddy and thick, or focus too much on one element of the piece and lose the other aspects beneath it, musicians also need to strike a balance within different layers of sound and lyrics to create their most satisfying and affecting art. Namjoon is apt at finding this equilibrium with his music, creating a canvas through the rhythm and color of instrumentals that the gestures and shapes of his rapping and singing can map compelling pictures. The concepts that these canvases convey are the meanings within the songwriting, Namjoon’s eloquent lyricism an art form of language within itself. There is a reason we use the word “composition” both in visual and musical art contexts - it’s the way the pieces and subject matter of each are arranged around one another.
Because of the way sound and sight interact with each other, we often associate music to certain images and artworks or views to certain music. One can find the essence of Namjoon’s work in the types of art he shares or associates tracks of his with certain art pieces or artists. His thoughtful and poetic approach to songwriting reflects the colors and components seen in the dream-like artworks he often shares photos of. But Namjoon has taken this interdisciplinary relationship a step further, posing the question of how he can take the lifespan-defying nature of visual art and apply it to his approach to music. He discussed these thoughts in his recent interview on the Art Basel podcast “Interceptions,” along with his admiration for Impressionism. The timelessness of the craft that a visual artist leaves behind is something not often sought after in today’s fast-paced and high-turnover system of pop music and musical trends.
Namjoon, however, is making a point to consider the way he might leave an impact with his art in a way that spans beyond short-lived trends and even his own youth and life. He even hopes to someday open an art curation site to display and enjoy his favorite works. Perhaps his catalog of music is his grand interactive exhibition hall of his own art. While many would agree that Namjoon and BTS have created music and impact already that has changed the very foundation and legacy of their industry from here on out, I’m sure we can all look forward to the way Namjoon will continue to shape his own life and work as an artist - and simply as the person Kim Namjoon - to leave his own lasting footprints behind.
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Written By: Sav
Edited By: Aury
Checked By: Shelley
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