“Alchemy, 2016” (Choi Jeong-Hwa, Seoul)

“Alchemy” (2016) by Choi Jeong Hwa (born 1961, Seoul) directly responds to the architecture of the MFA, in a space chosen personally by the artist. Installed between the classical stone columns of the Hemicycle Staircase, stacks of plastic containers and dishes, lit by LEDs, transform into gleaming columns of colored glass. Choi finds appeal in the dazzling jewel tones of mass-produced plastic objects, which he sources from street markets, secondhand shops and discount stores. He is also fascinated by the conflicting qualities of plastic—it is disposable but eternal, beautiful but debased, ubiquitous but invisible.

See it in “Megacities Asia” through July 17, 2016: http://bit.ly/1IQc68i #mfaMEGA