Hyundai Card exhibition explores history through iconic magazines
Hyundai Card exhibition explores
history through iconic magazines
Intro Zone shows the
history of Hyundai Card’s “Complete Collection.”
There is one thing in common among
Life, Playboy, National Geographic, Rolling Stone and Domus: Hyundai Card owns
the entire collections of those internationally-recognized magazines, each
bearing historical and cultural significance.
Hyundai Card is hosting an exhibition,
featuring the five magazines and other rare collections of magazines. The
exhibition entitled “the Issue: The Hyundai Card Library Magazine Collection
through the Ages,” showcases inaugural as well as other major editions of the
five magazines to explore how each magazine viewed society and culture over
time.
The magazines are part of enormous
magazine collections that four different Hyundai Card Libraries – each themed
on design, travel, music and cooking – have amassed from all over the world
since 2013. It was to let Hyundai Card users “experience” the value Hyundai
Card pursues, lifestyle taste and philosophy.
Hyundai Card, as a leading credit card
issuer, has been seeking to go beyond just encouraging people to subscribe to
new credit cards and spend more with them. The company wants to see its
cardholders to have bigger affection for the company and to be more satisfied
with the company’s products and services through the “intellectual experience.”
An entire wall, spanning two floors at Storage by Hyundai Card, is
filled with Complete Collection.
Six zones where you can see,
listen and feel
The exhibition comprises six zones
across the two floors of Hyundai Card Storage: one common zone called “Intro
Zone” and five different zones, each devoted to Life, Playboy, National
Geographic, Rolling Stone and Domus. Each magazine zone features the very first
and following editions bearing historical and cultural significance,
accompanied by a variety of photos, letters, videos and sound files related to
magazines such as Life, Domus and Playboy.
The Intro Zone features the history of
the complete magazine collections and a large timeline of key global events
from the 1930s to the present, outlining the global significance of the
magazines on display. Also attention-graving is a gigantic bookshelf filling a
wall spanning two floors. The installation contains the entire magazines
relocated from Hyundai Card Libraries. The exhibition
showcases a variety of internationally-recognized magazines bearing historical
and social significance, such as Life, Rolling Stones and Playboy.
Visitors may view the legendary cover
of Rolling Stone’s January 1981 issue, which featured the iconic photograph of
John Lennon and Yoko Ono; photos related to the assassination of U.S. President
John F. Kennedy in Life; and hidden stories behind Playboy, which catered to
trendy male readers at the time. The Rolling Stone Zone allows visitors to
listen to tracks that are considered significant in the history of
international pop music.
Clockwise from top left: A zone devoted Playboy; a collection of iconic
chairs that represented the lifestyle of Playboy readers; a Rolling Stones
zone, which allows visitors to listen to music from vinyl records; and a zone
displaying Domus covers and related design products.
Why Complete Collection?
Hyundai Card has been trying to adhere
to the essential role of libraries – accumulating records – over the course of
opening four libraries since 2013.
The idea of collecting entire issue of
world-renowned, timeless magazines was hatched by Hyundai Card Vice Chairman
and CEO Ted Chung. When the company was preparing to build its first library –
Design Library – in 2012, he told an employee in charge that Hyundai Card
libraries should have their unique items that make people to eager to visit and
see.
“Why do you think people visit Louvre
Museum? To see ‘Mona Lisa.’ Our libraries should possess items like Mona Lisa,”
he said.
Employees in charge of building Hyundai Card libraries traveled
around the world to find rare books that could become their own “Mona Lisa.” They
reviewed over 200,000 publications at libraries and book shops in over 40
countries but failed to find the right ones.
After a period of trials and errors,
they set criteria: books with globally-recognized authority in different themes
of libraries, timeless value and minimal access from anywhere in the world.
Then they reached conclusion to amass the entire issues of magazines that are
considered No. 1 in design, travel, music and cooking, which Hyundai Card has
dubbed “Complete Collection.” For the collection, employees had to turn every
page of nearly 9,000 issues of 11 types of magazines to see if any page was
missing or destroyed. Whenever a problem was discovered, they went searching
for a book in a better condition. Collecting one entire collection took two to
three years of ceaselessly meeting private collectors and used book store
owners around the world.
The four Hyundai Card libraries came to
own 11 types of Complete Collections totaling 8,991 magazines, which are now on
display at the Storage exhibition. Even the publishers of Rolling Stone and
National Geographic are known not to own the entire issues and the majority of
readers tend not to keep past issues.
The exhibition runs through July 4 at
Storage by Hyundai Card in Itaewon, central Seoul and admission is by advance
Hyundai Card DIVE app reservation only.
Storage is located B2 and B3 floors of the VINYL & PLASTIC
Storage by Hyundai Card
Located at the B2-3 floors of the VINYL
& PLASTIC, Storage by Hyundai Card is an exhibition space originally born
to “store” all kinds of contemporary visual art pieces. The themes and topics
of exhibitions the venue has been hosting range from contemporary to
experimental art, films, architecture and design.
Address: 248 Itaewon-ro, Yongsan District,
Seoul (https://goo.gl/maps/eCuxZz3fDcs5zgo86)
Resource: Hyundai Card News Room
2021.05.24
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