Fine art has always touched the deepest strata of the human spirit. It is not simply the skill of creating aesthetic objects, but the act of a living human being attempting to understand themselves. While humans have evolved by using tools, it is in writing poetry and painting images that they crossed from utility into the realm of the mind. Art was born at this very threshold, and it has defined civilization ever since.

Public support was once the final bastion of art. It served as the only mechanism through which art could defend itself from the logic of the market—a space where the essence of artistic creation could be protected from the accelerating demands of capital.

In today’s global art market, auctions and art fairs are no longer simply distribution channels or temporary festivities. Auctions reduce art to quantifiable numbers, while art fairs promote the rapid reproduction and immediate consumption of market-friendly works. Empowered by capital, these two forces now dictate not only the market’s direction but also the survival conditions of artists themselves.

The Korean contemporary art scene today is enveloped in a profound silence—the absence of art criticism. Exhibitions abound, artworks circulate rapidly through the market, and artists are consumed at speed, but there is scarcely a voice that interprets, questions, or inscribes meaning into these movements.

At some point, the phrase “good artwork” quietly disappeared from the art market’s vocabulary. In its place came expressions like “rising artist,” “sold-out exhibition,” and “best-selling series.” The value of an artwork is no longer judged by the emotions it evokes or the meaning it holds.

In contemporary life, we often speak of “value,” yet rarely do we pause to examine what we mean by it. Under capitalism, value is almost instinctively reduced to a single measure: price. Art is no exception. The inherent meaning of a work—its inner necessity and expressive urgency—has gradually been pushed aside, while marketability and investment potential increasingly dictate how art is evaluated and consumed.