Throughout his community projects which often require people’s active engagement, Minwook An has inquired into what constitutes an ideal audience or ideal participants. He states that there are numerous art events and educational programs outside of Seoul, but little participating audience. Sometimes he even thinks of kidnapping people from other places where more people are willing to engage with such projects. He participated as a panel member of the pre-Mediacity 2016 program “Meeting on Community Art: the exhaustion (regeneration) of public art.” An, reflecting this program, reconsidered what he realized during the meeting and produced The Agreed-Kidnapping-Play as a platform upon which he could raise questions for the audience and share the experience with them.
For those who want to participate in the kidnapping play, the artist will announce on the internet the dress code and visiting date to the museum. When the participants gather in the SeMA Seosomun Main Building, they receive the agreement on kidnapping and a bracelet as a sign for the kidnapper to recognize them. The kidnapper brings the proper person(s) to a vehicle where he gives them safety instructions and rules before really kidnapping them and taking them to certain sites—community art sites including Munhwasallong-Gong, Community Space Litmus, White Stork Nest, and other places that need participants.
