Mostly, Mise-en-scène calls creating a scene on stage, but in a movie, it is used to cover all visual elements seen on a screen. And such drama or movie reflects a composition of painting describing a dramatic moment. Mise-en-scène has been used to explore an ordinary life or unconscious in contemporary art, and to reanalyze a history of art and film. 

This exhibition tries to find a meaning of scene direction in terms of contemporary art through the artists using cinematic techniques. Without any edit or dialogue, Mise-en-scène can have many meanings in a scene, such as a use of gesture, eyes, posture, or moving line. Lighting, set, and props cover the whole atmosphere and synopsis and decide a tone of a whole. Simple motion can present a symbolical meaning, and even ordinary object can have a possibility of iconographical interpretation. 

Visual works depending on sound delivers emotion and atmosphere beyond a limit of language, and a scene staged by a photo comes to us as a sort of archetypal form, even though we don't know original photo or film. Today, the artists can utilize Mise-en-scène effectively. 

Comparing to popular movie with large capital and various professionals, contemporary art works are abstruse and individual to approach. However, art works in this exhibition show acceptable narrative through descriptive structure revealing complexity of emotion. From recomposed video of famous Western painting to installation or photos like movie still, the exhibition would be a chance to reconsider diversity of contemporary art. 

Courtesy of Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art

Artists: AES+F / Gregory Crewdson / Adad Hannah / Jung Yeondoo / 
Eve Sussman|Rufus Corporation / Yang Fudong / Zin Kijong 

*image (left)
The Fifth Night, 2010
35mm B&W Film, Multi Channel Video, 10min 37sec
© Yang Fudong