Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- Through music, BTS preaches a sermon about self-love and loving others to make the world a better place. This year, the K-pop band embarks on a new campaign with 22 renowned artists to expand its philosophy and values into modern art language. 

Through the exhibition of artworks in London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Seoul and New York from January through March 27, the project called "Connect, BTS" combines content and context to convey BTS' message to affirm diversity over differences.

"This project aims to redefine the relationships between art and music, the material and immaterial, artists and their audiences, artists and artists, and theory and practice," project organizers said on the website of Connect, BTS. "Connect, BTS reaches for a collective experience that might be only the beginning of new communication between art, music and people."

The vision for Connect, BTS is "solidarity," Lee Dae-hung, the artistic director of Connect, BTS, said. "The project’s starting point is the agony of how to connect music and art, digital and analog, global and local, natural and human beings and create a new relationship to heal conflicts and antagonism."

The project began on Tuesday with an exhibition at London's Serpentine Gallery featuring Danish artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen's digital recreation of an ancient forest titled "Catharsis" that immerses audiences within a digital simulation of a re-imagined old-growth forest.

In Buenos Aires, Tomas Saraceno will present his environmentally conscious project "Fly With Aerocene Pacha" in which a person floats in the sky solely through the aid of solar power.

From February 4 in New York, Antony Gormley, a British sculptor, will display his work titled "New York Clearing" which comprises 18 kilometers (11 miles) of aluminum tubing that will loop around each other, evoking a frenetic "drawing in space" that counters the grid of the city.

An installation artwork from Ann Veronica Janssens, a contemporary visual artist who works primarily in light, will be shown in Seoul, along with a video artwork by Kang Yi-yun, a South Korean artist who uses digital projection mapping.

Fans welcomed the project saying it connects fans and non-fans worldwide. "This is such an incredible concept! Thank you for connecting us all with such amazing artists," said Facebook user Emelie Lundros. Another user Isabel Cardenas said: "I find this project very interesting and fascinating. It shows art in nature that we often don't see, and there is no one better to show art than BTS."

BTS has launched an anti-violence campaign with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to help end violence against children and young people. The group's hit album series "LOVE YOURSELF" have positively influenced young people and share the message of "Love myself, share love."