neon-flashy books

Imagine walking in a room with a book in your hand, after which soon images and sounds related to the book splash into the room.

This scenario, which reminds of a scene one might have seen in an animated film, comes true through Kim Ae-ran's work "The Sublime -- The Space of Heteropia" at the exhibition "Beginning of New Era" currently running at the former Defense Security Command complex in central Seoul.

To make it happen, Kim installed special sensors in her neon-flashy books and in a room.

Other than Kim's work, about 60 artists, ranging from veterans to rookies, are showcasing some 300 original and fun exhibits at the show that makes viewers once again ponder the limits of contemporary art.

The National Museum of Contemporary Art, which is hosting of the exhibition, says that these exhibits are previews of what kind of art museum the complex become in 2012.

It will be the museum's third branch, completing the National Museum of Contemporary Art trio, also including the existing ones in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province and Deoksugung, central Seoul.

Nicknamed Kimusa -- an abbreviation of the command's Korean name -- the complex has hosted several exhibitions this year, including "Platform in Kimusa 2009."

But museum officials promise this one is completely different.

"If 'Platform' was to brush off Kimusa's past, this exhibition is to promote the forgotten space and show what a fun and exciting place the new museum will be," said museum curator Gi Hye-gyeong.

Once the trio is formed, each will take a different role.

The new museum, as it will probably be fully equipped with the latest equipment, will primarily host exhibitions on new media art combined with modern technologies. The Gwacheon museum will likely focus on its existing collections while the Deoksugung museum, as it takes place inside an old palace, will hold exhibitions that focus on traditional genres of modern and contemporary art.

Will the upcoming museum really be worth waiting for? Yes, if it really turns out to be as creative as its current exhibits.

For instance, installation artist Jeon Su-cheon has reproduced a telephone operating room whose main purpose was allegedly to bug institutions, armies and the media. Hundreds of mixed voices coming out of the operating machine make visitors prick up their ears.

Choi Woo-ram has filled a hallway with hundreds of yellow lamps hanging from its ceiling, making it look like a scene from the Harry Potter movie series.

The spider-formed lamps, called "Pendulum of Secret," are supposed to be "machine organisms" that live on secrets. Choi referred to how the former Kimusa used to be packed with state secrets.

Park Byung-chun created a miniature land in his room with 3,000 crushed ramen noodles and Im Taek created his on visitors' eye level by making a narrow hole on the wall with cotton and salt.