K-pop superstars launch Catharsis at the Serpentine Gallery

Pop music has teamed up with conceptual art to produce a series of projects like no other. Korean music phenomenon BTS have launched Jakob Kudsk Steensen's virtual reality installation at the Serpentine Gallery via video link, as part of a global initiative to connect 5 cities and 22 artists. The K-pop band are funding the programme, and have been vocal about their belief in the power of art to spark positive change in the world.

The Serpentine installation is titled Catharsis, and takes the viewer on a journey through an ancient forest via a digital simulation that stretches ideas of time, as the wind, leafs and sunlight all follow their own speeds. The work is at Serpentine until 15 March, but is also available to view via a dedicated website.

Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Catharsis (2019-2020) © 2019 courtesy of the artist

Other projects billed as part BTS' global programme include Anthony Gormley's 11 mile long 'drawing' using aluminium tubing at New York’s Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 3 in February, and Tomás Saraceno's attempts to lift a person into the sky, powered only by the Sun and the air we breath, in what promises to be a Jules Verne style spectacle.

BTS have been described as the most popular boy band in the world, and their foray into art is part of a drive to demystify and democratise the contemporary art world. All the projects will be free for the public. Does this collaboration between pop stars and public art mark the beginning of a new trend? We'll have to wait and see.