Je Sa Jib-Man

Members of The Fourth group had been organizing since 1967 which can be traced to their participation in the Union Exhibition of Korean Young Artist Groups. The group officially commenced on June 20, 1970, with an inaugural "establishment convention" that took place in a coffee shop located in Euljiro, Seoul called Sorim. To begin, the members placed their hands over their heart, sang the national anthem, recited the pledge of allegiance, and paid a silent tribute to patriotic martyrs. This was followed by a reading of their manifesto while soul music, psychedelic music, moktak (wooden percussion utilized by Buddhist monks), and sounds of nature played in the background. They played Brahms’ symphony to mark the ending of the convention.[1]

The group's philosophy centered around Muche (無體), Lao Tzu’s daoist concept of nonaction or nonbeing.[2] The two hanja, or Chinese characters, literally translate to "without body." Unlike other avant-garde artist groups at the time, this group aimed to include experts from non-art disciplines and cover all areas of society ranging from art, religion, and politics.This inclusivity stemmed from their belief that art could no longer remain object-based and solely visual. They sought to use art as a vehicle to think through and change all areas of life.[1] Their performances included socio-political protests and institutional critiques of art and bodily control.

The group used performance in order to resist and reimagine what they considered the "misaligned body structure": a (Korean) body that bears the history of Japanese colonialism, the Korean War, and the pressures of the new Park Chung-Hee regime.[3]

The group's name come from Kim Ku-lim's reasoning that, "By using the number 4, I attempted to break through conventions in the Korean art world as well as in Korean Society because this number carried negative nuances throughout our history."[2]

Entitled, "Declaration and Doctrine," the group's manifesto that was announced at their "inaugural convention" delineated their goals towards fostering a new era of society that was guided by the philosophical principal of Muche. With an emphasis on freedom of expression and communication, the group envisioned a complete revision of Korean society. The phrase, "We were born on this land with a historical mission," borrows its exact language from the introduction of the Charter of National Education (which all Koreans had to recite, sometimes daily, during Park Chung-hee's regime). By referencing Park's famous words spoken in December 1968, the Fourth Group intended to subvert and destroy the existing political order that that dominated Korean society with its oppressive nationalism.[4]

1. Untitled, Performed in the Name of Environmental Art, 1969.
2. July 1970, Street Mime Piece: In Myeong-dong, one of the busiest commercial districts in Seoul, Chong Chan-sung and Ko Ho wore placards around their necks with signs that read: "With what do you prove your virginity?" and "Looking for myself, who lost his target income of 4,400 thousand won." The Fourth Group's name was at the bottom of each sign. The pair meandered through the crowded streets before Chong entered a store and stood in front of the display window. In front of the same shop, Ko began to eat wine and bread (referencing the Christian Eucharist, which was well known in Korea due to high rates of religious conversion). As a response to Ko eating, Chong then began to lick the window pane in front of him so vigorously that his saliva trailed down the glass. Chong's location inside of the shop's display case rendered him as a caged specimen that had to "perform" in order to receive food. The fact that the only sustenance he could toil for was the bread and wine, symbolizing the body and blood of Christ, spoke to the histories of missionary and colonial occupation which forcefully subjugated Korea to imported ideologies and corporeal restraints Most people passed by, but an onlooker who had seen this series of uncomfortable events, grabbed the bread from Ko and gave it to Chong. A second viewer, who was amused by Chong's desperate acts, dribbled water on the outside-facing part of the window.[3]
3. August 15, 1970, Funeral Ceremony of the Established Art and Culture: staged on Korea's Liberation Day, the performance involved a funeral procession that began at Sajik Park and ended at the Han River. In front of a statue of the Confucian scholar, Lee Yul-kok, they announced the independence of Korean culture and read from their "Declaration and Doctrine." The artists then carried a coffin filled with books containing "outdated political ideologies." Jung Kang-ja lead the procession holding a white flag (to symbolize harmony) and the national flag of South Korea. Kim Ku-lim also carried a white flag, while Jung Chan-seung and Son Il-kwang carried the coffin. Kang Kuk-jin trailed behind them with a shovel. This performance ended prematurely due to the intervention of the police.[5]
4. August 1970, Muche (Incorporeality) Exhibition: Planned to take place at the National Information Center from August 20 to 24, the group prepared to host a seminar, a pantomime performance by Jung Chan-seung, and proclamation. It was shut down by the police on the first day.[1]

Just before the group's founding, Kim Ku-lim and other artists executed a mail art piece on May 15, 1970. For this piece, entitled Condom and Carbamine, the group put together 201 envelopes which they then sent to 20 art critics and handed out to 80 Seoul National University students in front of the school's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. When the recipients opened the package, they found 4 separate bags with accompanying instructions that delineated the specific times in which the bags were to be opened that night: 8:40, 8:50, 9:00, 9:05.[1] Each bag (in the order they were to be opened) held white powder, a torn condom, a punctured sheet of paper, and instructions that directed as follows:

Open the first envelope on May 15 at 8:40 PM.

Upon opening this envelope, mix the powder with 20 milliliters of cold water. State your name three times, collect your mental self, and open the second envelope at 8:50 PM.

Put the condom on your genitals, and open the third envelope at 9:00 PM.

Breathe through the perforated sheet of paper four times, look towards the Nam Mountain for four seconds, and open the fourth envelope at 9:05 PM.[3]

These seemingly eclectic objects and directions were rife with political meaning. As suggested by the title, the unlabeled white powder was actually carbamime: a gastrointestinal pain reliever from America that enjoyed brief popularity in Korean in 1962 before its import was halted in 1963 due to its negative effects on the Korean pharmaceutical industry. By directing participants to drink an indiscriminate powder and putting a condom on their bodies, the piece mimics the harrowing ways dictatorships can invade the most intimate realms of bodily autonomy.[3]

The undertaking of the project took place on the nationally appointed "Day to Capture Rats": a program which distributed rodenticide (a white powder) to all citizens to use at a specifically designated time of day. Due to this overlap, some participants wondered if the carbamime was rat poison. This rigorous extermination program not only exemplified the Park regime's fervor to erase all signs of underdevelopment, but it also spoke to a deeper colonial history where rats were used to represent state enemies.[3]

While their ideals were ambitious, they were not received well by the public, government, and the artistic community at the time. The Fourth Group was antagonistic to the state of Korean society and the established art conventions in many ways. First, most of the members were newly graduate from Hongik University or (like Kim Ku-lim) had dropped out of art school; thus, they were viewed by the elite art communities as irrelevant novices.[4] Also, ideals about art were dominated by Japanese and European canons and centered around developments in painting. State-run museums controlled the content and style of art that was shown through the Gukjeon, which was the common short-name for the National Art Exhibition. The National Art Exhibition mirrored the earlier Japanese-run forerunner called Seonjeon (Annual Korean Art Exhibition) in that it favored apolitical academic painting that was inspired by Japanese modernism.[4]

Their last official production as a group culminated in their Incorporeality Exhibition which was planned to take place at the National Information Center from August 20 to 24. Events that were prepared for the two-day event included a seminar, pantomime performance by Jung, and proclamation. The group also planned to disorient the audience by darkening the room lights, making a fog out of dry-ice in a darkened room, and blaring a loud siren. Before the exhibition could even conclude its first day, it was shut down by authorities. All following attempts at staging events were undermined by the police, and after relentless government pressure the group was forced to disband in 1971.[1]