Innocean turns Seoul advertising screens into AI art galleries
The Open Museum project replaces commercial messages with works by three artists and creative teams across Gangnam, Central City and Myeong-dong.
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Innocean has begun using large digital advertising screens in Seoul as an outdoor gallery for AI-driven art, placing artists’ work on billboards normally used to sell products and brands.
The project, called Open Museum, is led by the advertising company’s AI creative research team, i-Lab. Its initial installations appeared in mid-October at The Monte Gangnam and Shinsegae Gangnam Gate DS at Central City, according to The Korea Herald. Works also ran on the Central City Underworld DS throughout October, while the K Finance screen in Myeong-dong joined in November.
The first programme is themed “Open” and features three artists and creative teams. Designer Kim Ji-young’s “Alien Beauty” uses unfamiliar skin textures to challenge conventional beauty standards. Kim Ji-hyun of the creative studio Anreal made “Aperture,” drawing on the growth and dispersal of dandelions.
The duo Neither.I contributed “Behind,” combining video, photography and electronic music to uncover scenes beyond a large curtain. Innocean adapted each work to the dimensions of its particular screen, reflecting the practical constraints of presenting art on commercial-scale outdoor displays.
Open Museum follows Innocean’s “Open Inquiry” concept, under which artists can approach AI as a creative tool, collaborator or subject. The company plans to record participants’ processes through interviews and an online archive.
Innocean CEO Kim Jung-ah said AI was changing creative methods and possibilities, prompting the company to open both its capabilities and its urban screens to artists. The company intends to recruit further AI artists and explore collaborations that connect artists’ visions with brands.
The initiative joins a wider use of public digital displays for art in Seoul. The city has previously used media façades and projections for multimedia work, including the Seoul Light festival, which began at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in 2019 and later expanded to Gwanghwamun Square.
The current Open Museum installations run through the end of 2026, with new works scheduled to follow.
- Medium Art and design