Video Art History Lessons by Professor Kim were created in compliance with the fair use agreement and digital appropriation for the visual arts. A special thank you to all the inspiring modern and contemporary artists on this list who have made this project possible. The videos were sent to North Korea on USB drives and other media carriers with the anonymous support of other Koreans since 2017 as a part of the global activism known as information media penetration into North Korea. Therefore, in the spirit of sending media into North Korea, the project is dedicated to all the North Korean defectors around the world. The 2017 video works from the Mina Cheon Studio were produced by artist Mina Cheon and her team of media and art assistants: Andrew Keiper, Anita Zheng, and Anuj Malla. The script was written by Mina Cheon and the art history lessons were delivered by Professor Kim, otherwise known as the artist’s North Korean art persona, Kim Il Soon.

-Mina Cheon Studio

List of Contents

Art History Lesson 1 What is Art, What is Life? Part 1 (To be an Artist)
(Professor Kim Snapchat Filter: Flower)
Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917
Assignment 1: Select an object from everyday life and call it art.

Art History Lesson 2 What is Art, What is Life? Part 2 (Art and Food)
(Professor Kim Snapchat Filter: Flower)
Kim Il Soon, Eat Choco·Pie Together, 2014
Damien Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991
Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Cans, 1962
Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), 1991
Ai Weiwei, Sunflower Seeds, 2010
Cody Choi, The Thinker, 1996–97
Assignment 2: Select a food you like and call it art. 

Art History Lesson 3 Art, Money, Power
(Professor Kim Snapchat Filter: Leopard)
Andy Warhol, Mao (Series 90–99), 1972
Ai Weiwei, Mao (Facing Forward), 1986
Ai Weiwei, A Study of Perspective – Eiffel Tower, 1995–2003; A Study of Perspective – Tiananmen, 1995–2003; A Study of Perspective – White House, 1995–2003
Joonho Jeon, The White House, 2005–6
Wang Guangyi, Great Criticism, 1990–2007
Alexander Kosolapov, Coca-Cola, 1983; Malevich, 1990; This is My Blood, 2001
Lee Mingwei, Money for Art, 1994
Assignment 3: Share your money not as money, but as art.

Art History Lesson 4 Abstract Art and Dreams
(Professor Kim Snapchat Filter: Bunny)
Grace Hartigan, Untitled, ca. 1952
Wassily Kandinsky, Black Lines, 1913
Kazimir Malevich, Suprematist Composition: White on White, 1918
Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1955
Jackson Pollock, Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), 1950
Rene Magritte, Golconde, 1953
Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory, 1931
Yves Klein, International Klein Blue (IKB), 1957
Kim Il Soon, North Korean Dream Paintings
Assignment 4: What do you dream about? Write down your dreams and make them come true in abstraction, so you won’t get into trouble!

Art History Lesson 5 Feminism, Are We Equal?
(Professor Kim Snapchat Filter: Cat)
Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries
Yoko Ono, Cut Piece, 1964
Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Not Stupid Enough), 1997
Guerrilla Girls, Do Women have to be Naked to get into the Met. Museum?, 1989
Shirin Neshat, Rebellious Silence, 1994
Kim Il Soon, Happy North Korean Children, 2014
Assignment 5: Reverse the gaze, and find a gorilla (Guerrilla Girls) mask and wear it to a party.

Art History Lesson 6 Art, Lives Matter, and Social Justice (Dedicated to the Black Lives Matter Movement)
(Professor Kim Snapchat Filter: Mouse with Glasses)
South Korean Minjung Misool, 1980s pro-democracy art
Dread Scott, I am Not a Man, 2009; A Man Was Lynched by Police Yesterday, 2016
Mark Bradford, U.S. Pavilion, Venice Biennale 2017, and his social justice work
Free Ai Weiwei
Banksy
Assignment 6: Make a sign that says “My Life Matters” and wear it to a special event or make art in the streets in secret.

Art History Lesson 7 Remix and Appropriation Art
(Professor Kim Snapchat Filter: Zebra)
Cindy Sherman
Mariko Mori
Yasumasa Morimura
Gerhard Richter
Komar & Melamid
Ilya Kabakov
Mina Cheon aka Kim Il Soon
Inspired by Kirby Ferguson, Everything is a Remix
Assignment 7: Create a remix collage—to make something original—and think about who do you want to be today, a copy of another personality.

Art History Lesson 8 Art and Technology
(Professor Kim Snapchat Filter: Mouse with Glasses)
Nam June Paik, Zen for TV, 1963; Zen for Film, 1965
Satellite Art
net.art
Douglas Davis, The World’s First Collaborative Sentence, 1994
Char Davies, Osmose, 1995
Pierre Huyghe and Philippe Parreno, Annlee
Christian Marclay, The Clock, 2010
Lee Wan, Proper Time, 2017
Cao Fei, RMB City, 2008
Assignment 8: Turn on all your devices (media players) at once!

Art History Lesson 9 Art and Silence
(Professor Kim Snapchat Filter: Bunny)
John Cage, 4’33”, 1952
BBC Televised Full Orchestra 4’33”, 2004
Allan Kaprow, On/Off, 1994
Yoko Ono, Bed-In for Peace, 1969
Kimsooja, A Needle Woman series
Assignment 9: Get together with friends and watch John Cage’s 4’ 33” broadcasted live by the BBC in a full orchestral setting.

Art History Lesson 10 Art and Environment
(Professor Kim Snapchat Filter: Flower)
Chris Jordan, Cell phones #2, Atlanta, 2005
Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970
Olafur Eliasson, Your Waste of Time, 2013
The 1st Antarctic Biennale, 2017
Gabriel Orozco, Sandstars, 2012
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Surrounded Islands, 1980–83
Random International, Rain Room, 2013
Assignment 10: Collect your trash and recycle it into art!