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Weekend Tips: What to Do This Weekend in Berlin
October 2 to 4, 2026: Events, festivals, exhibitions and more things to do for your perfect weekend in Berlin. more
KOO JEONG A – 'OUSSSEAN'
“The man who is incapable at sitting at the heart of a moment and forgetting all past events […] will never know what happiness is.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche (1874)
Since the early 1990s, South Korean artist KOO JEONG A (b. 1967, KR) has worked with varied materials, from found objects to large-scale public installations, to create works that play with our perception and connect us to hidden forces that lie beyond the visible, asking us to consider how we allow our senses to inform our reading of a thing, a place, or a moment.
The title of the exhibition relates to Ousss, a fictional territory that the artist invented – a type of kingdom that they imagined could be perceived by the mind but not by the eye at first glance, demanding presence and patient attention. Much of their work sits within this realm, where invisible phenomena can be experienced through light, color, vibration, and smell, but only if the viewer commits to a presentness that allows for this observation. Newly reconfigured in response to KW's architecture, the exhibition brings together key works from the past decades, from shaking walls and magnet towers to drawings and phosphorescent paintings.
The exhibition marks KOO’s first major solo show in Germany, where they lived in Berlin during the 1990s and 2000s. Their practice draws on a wide constellation of concerns, ranging from human cognition to Taoist philosophy, from art history to the science of Qi, and every material or phenomenon – whether children's toys, a stack of magnets, or a shaft of sunlight – is handled with a sense of magic and care. Permanence is not a concern for KOO, and the works are less about being understood or interpreted than experienced – through their presence, and the push and pull of their hidden yet perceptible energy. Through modest yet enigmatic forms, the artist assembles intangible elements, such as forces, magnetic fields, phosphorescence, light, scent, sound and temperature, into multisensory environments that probe perception and the limits of our visual register.
– Friedrich Nietzsche (1874)
Since the early 1990s, South Korean artist KOO JEONG A (b. 1967, KR) has worked with varied materials, from found objects to large-scale public installations, to create works that play with our perception and connect us to hidden forces that lie beyond the visible, asking us to consider how we allow our senses to inform our reading of a thing, a place, or a moment.
The title of the exhibition relates to Ousss, a fictional territory that the artist invented – a type of kingdom that they imagined could be perceived by the mind but not by the eye at first glance, demanding presence and patient attention. Much of their work sits within this realm, where invisible phenomena can be experienced through light, color, vibration, and smell, but only if the viewer commits to a presentness that allows for this observation. Newly reconfigured in response to KW's architecture, the exhibition brings together key works from the past decades, from shaking walls and magnet towers to drawings and phosphorescent paintings.
The exhibition marks KOO’s first major solo show in Germany, where they lived in Berlin during the 1990s and 2000s. Their practice draws on a wide constellation of concerns, ranging from human cognition to Taoist philosophy, from art history to the science of Qi, and every material or phenomenon – whether children's toys, a stack of magnets, or a shaft of sunlight – is handled with a sense of magic and care. Permanence is not a concern for KOO, and the works are less about being understood or interpreted than experienced – through their presence, and the push and pull of their hidden yet perceptible energy. Through modest yet enigmatic forms, the artist assembles intangible elements, such as forces, magnetic fields, phosphorescence, light, scent, sound and temperature, into multisensory environments that probe perception and the limits of our visual register.
Runtime: Sat, 17/10/2026 to Sun, 10/01/2027
Price info: Berlin Welcome Card holders 6,00 €
Tickets can only be purchased on site and with card payment.
Price: €10.00
Reduced price: €6.00
Reduced price info: Berlin Welcome Card holders 4,50 €
Free admission to visitors up to and including 18, Friends of KW and Berlin Biennale, and KW Lover* cardholders, Berechtigungsnachweis holders (former berlinpass), Recipients of ALG II, students of Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin and Universität der Künste Berlin, ICOM Members and Museumsbund Members
Tickets can only be purchased on site and with card payment.
Price: €10.00
Reduced price: €6.00
Reduced price info: Berlin Welcome Card holders 4,50 €
Free admission to visitors up to and including 18, Friends of KW and Berlin Biennale, and KW Lover* cardholders, Berechtigungsnachweis holders (former berlinpass), Recipients of ALG II, students of Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin and Universität der Künste Berlin, ICOM Members and Museumsbund Members
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