SEOUL — The Seoul subway system is giving new meaning to the phrase, “When pigs fly,” the Korea Herald reported.
In the hopes of improving its image and promoting pork consumption, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) is featuring pig art on a Seoul subway train, as conceived of by more than 30 painting, installation, animation and computer graphics artists.
For three months, between Dec. 11 and March 10, the campaign dubbed “Happy Flying Pig Metro” will turn a train running on subway line No. 5 into an underground museum decked in piggy images, as well as pig-theme performances, in an effort to increase awareness of pork as a valuable source of nutrition.
“Koreans tend to perceive pork to be inferior to other meat products, and we’d like to change that,” said Jung Jong-dae, deputy chief of the pig and poultry department at the NACF. “Moreover, the demand for pork is only concentrated on pigs’ fat (commonly known as ‘samgyeopsal’).”
According to him, Koreans’ strong predilection for samgyeopsal stands as a major stumbling block to a balanced consumption pattern, ultimately compromising the foundations of the hog industry. Currently, some 20,000 households are breeding 9.03 million hogs in Korea.
Adding to the prejudice, outbreaks of foot and mouth disease and pork-related cholera this year shook the industry.
As part of their efforts to promote hog farming and pork consumption, the NACF offered a public bid for a creative public-oriented project last September and picked the piggy train initiative proposed by Infoart Korea, an Internet-based art agency, which is credited with previous subway projects of digital art and cinema themes over the years.
Based on the pilot design by Infoart Korea, the entire exterior of the eight-car train shows flying pigs on clouds, and as the sliding train doors close, they will connect two pigs shaking hands.
While the flying pig theme on the train’s exterior will remain the same, the interior of each car will be like a walk through an art museum.
The first car, for example, will be covered in clouds, while pig mobiles made of aluminum, cloth and other materials adorn the subway ceilings. The mobiles depict various artists’ interpretations of pigs, swaying to the car’s gentle movements.
Other cars include a two-dimensional recreation of a kitchen with images of pork cuisine, put together by an Ewha Womans University design team, and a transformed “pig pen” put together by installation artist Go Chang-seon, complete with florescent highlights for a brilliant visual effect.
The subway ride will seem especially short for children watching pig cartoons such as “The Three Little Pigs” and “Little Pig Leon” on a video monitor. There will also be a screen and beam projector featuring animated films about pigs created by students at the Korean National University of Art.
In addition to professional and aspiring artists, children will also lay their hands on the pig art train project.
The fifth car will offer a unique look into children’s own perceptions of the pig, as it will display a number of children’s paintings on the animal that were recognized in a competition.
“We are making the daily grind of long commutes to work and home a more enjoyable experience and a new form of entertainment, in addition to the public cause of industrial promotion,” said Moon Hye-young, an art director at Infoart Korea.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation, the art train will make two round-trips on weekdays and three trips on weekends, avoiding the rush hours for the protection of the installed artworks.
For more information, check out the Web site www.flyingpig.co.kr.