Coffee capsules find ‘new life’ in Choi Jeong-hwa’s latest exhibit

While coffee capsules offer convenience they come with the issue of excess packaging.

In an attempt to give these aluminum capsules a new breath of life, as well as pursue sustainability in a different light, Nespresso Korea presents an art exhibition created in collaboration with artist Choi Jeong-hwa.

Choi is renowned for his kitschy and large-scale installation pieces, which are typically made from everyday objects, oftentimes of cheap plastic. The 61-year-old artist tends to experiment with materials such as iron cauldrons, wooden chairs, rubber shoes, and even balloons.

Nespresso has been offering services where it collects the capsules from customers and recycles them since 2011 and jumped at the chance to turn the capsules into Choi’s artworks with the exhibition “Vita Nova” at the Platform-L Contemporary Art Center in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.

“Vita Nova” means “new life” in Latin.

“With this opportunity, we wanted to prove that for the past 36 years, Nespresso has been serious about its coffee and the brand wanted to go further than just a simple campaign or event. We wanted to give the capsules that people are so familiar with in their everyday lives a ‘new life,’” said Lee Ji-yoon, curator of the exhibition, during a tour on Wednesday.

“When we were choosing which artist to collaborate with, Choi immediately came to mind. His artworks are permeated with history and bear so much significance as he works with materials that date back to ancient times. The fact that he collects the trash and gives it a fresh new beginning is fascinating.”

“Vita Nova” is spread across three floors and features aluminum installations that resemble the Möbius strip, a garden of flowers and towers interspersed with lamps.

One reason Choi collects junk and vintage goods is that he aims to reflect the hasty Westernization that took place during Korea’s rapid industrialization. He tries to tear down the distinction between the artwork and the audience and instead, blend them all together.

“They say that humans are the dust of the universe, and this is the fundamentals of symbiosis,” Choi said. “Take fermented food, for instance. When kimchi gets old it becomes sour over-fermented kimchi, and when you overcook rice it becomes nurungji. It’s all the same — living, dying and being born again.”

When visitors step up to the third floor where his towers like “Alchemy” (2022), which are lumps of aluminum capsules stacked on top of each other and “Zyre” (2022), a spiral stairway-like aluminum tower were placed, Choi encourages them to “step into the stage freely.”

“There should be no division between the artworks and visitors,” Choi said. “When an artwork is complete, the artist is no longer the owner. It becomes the audience’s, which is why everyone is the main character. Take pictures of yourselves among the installation pieces and become part of them.”

The lighting on the second-floor room suggests a shadow performance, and visitors should “look at the shadows first, and imagine what is creating them. That way, you become the main character, and everyone becomes artists as they become part of the performance and everything becomes the artwork,” Choi added.

A colorful aluminum flower garden is situated right outside the first-floor entrance, and another gigantic spiky, round piece represents a dandelion, Choi said, which “although may seem trivial because they are sometimes regarded as weeds, they have the power to spread out across the entire world [with their seeds]. I hope my artworks also bear such power and provide discourse on symbiosis and coexistence.”

Choi’s emphasis on the aforementioned motifs is furthermore manifested through “Infinity” (2022), which may remind visitors of the infinity symbol and the Möbius strip.

“’Dandelion’ has been given a new life, but they are made from coffee capsules; they contain their entire history,” Choi said. “Everything is connected with the heart and everything is the same. That’s why this exhibition is all about new life — ‘vita nova.’”

“Vita Nova” continues until Dec. 22. The Platform-L Contemporary Art Center is open every day from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The exhibition is free to all.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]