RM’s Art: A Perspective
I want to be a human before I do some art — RM.
Almost everyone who has met Kim Namjoon says, “I would like to be someone just like him,” or they would love to be surrounded by people with a similar mindset.
The brilliance of RM’s personality comes from his always striving to learn how best to exist. Although from the outside, we see him as someone with a clear idea of what he is doing and how he is serving the space he is allocated, he still strives to reinvent himself and serve better.
Kim Namjoon, or RM, is the leader of the group BTS and has recently received more adjectives to his name. Aside from being a rapper, lyricist, and producer until recently, he is introduced today as a patron of art, art activist, and South Korea’s art advocate.
RM’s love for art is familiar to his fans. During the 2017 WINGS tour, he spoke of how going to museums comforted him. I remember watching him then. I remember ARMY’s reaction, how most of us expressed relating to him wanting something quiet from the world’s noise. I’ve admired his lyrics, read the translations, and found meaningful space for them. Since they got Instagram, I have sat down to look at the art he posts, decipher them and learn more about the ones I am drawn to. But then his escapades started being commercialized.
With these new titles, his museum visits are no longer trips of quiet and solace, and I wonder if we have again taken something from the boys.
“Am I a diplomat?” These were RM’s words regarding all the recent new activities he has participated in — asked rhetorically during his interview with Pharrell Williams and Rolling Stones.
So, are we stealing art from Kim Namjoon?
That was my initial thought. That society was taking something from him. Not the artist RM, but the Namjooning human that is Kim Namjoon. In the Rolling Stones interview, Pharrell Williams asked RM how he copes with the massive responsibility of carrying ARMY’s hopes. Williams admits that he often forces himself to step aside from the energy of his fans because it is overwhelming. Knowing that people come to you with immense love and desire for reciprocity can be scary and heavy. Although Pharrell has been in the industry longer, he still cannot comprehend and contain that feeling.
Compared to Pharrell Williams, RM has a larger fan base, which means more antis, so having somewhere to go and decompress after long days of people cheering and following is necessary. In his feature with Weverse Magazine, RM talked about his ‘bibil hills’ that protect him from what people say and do outside — one of them being his museum visits. But, today, he cannot simply visit these places.
BTS has often said they want their music to be healing and a safe place for their fans. During the 2017 Wings Tour Final ending, RM said,
If we helped your dream and your life with our existence, music, performances, pictures or videos, even if it’s not big, if we could reduce your pain from 100 to 99, 98 or 97, that makes our existence worthy.
To that effect, RM recently released his first album, Indigo. A project he continues to call his honest efforts at making music that is close to who he is. Although he has two mixtapes that did well in their respect, he speaks of Indigo as a reflection of himself. Not only an archive of his later 20s but thoughts he has carried with him since he started writing music at age 15.
The album includes ten beautiful songs that vary in feel and sound but convey a central message — returning to our humanity. From Yun, the first song and my personal favorite, to №2, RM transports listeners through his mind, discussing how life has been for him lately, talking of art and the desire to, once again, become a better adult and representative of his craft. He delights in symbolism, in the slowness of nature and art, and is not afraid to interact with the chaos of life and love. He talks about striving to find a balance and never wanting to lose himself in the world that he is now living in. Indigo, themed heavily around art, has sent many of us looking into art we would not be aware of.
A notable event is his recent performance at the Dia Beacon. During the interview with Dia Beacon, he explained that the sculptures by Richard Serra, the exhibition layout, and how the light comes through to illuminate the pieces inspired his desire to perform at the venue. Through this performance, I learned about the art installation and Richard Serra — who has helped me better understand the concept of solid belonging within the self and the world.
Imagine having such an influence on people worldwide through such simple actions!
The New York Times wrote a feature on him that includes the number of views his video at the Art Basel fair in Switzerland got, quoting that it was no surprise that museums and exhibits were asking him to visit. The Art Basel podcast later had a feature with him; they asked how he felt about his capacity to amplify anything he touches today.
The response that his art escapades have received brought him to a realization that opened up new art for him to explore. Through his discoveries of Korean art, I found Lee Bae — who has become an inspiring artist for me.
RM’s journey through art galvanized mine. He Led me to the Dansaekhwa art movement of the pre and post-Korean war. These discoveries continue to inform my life and identity as a youth. Bringing to question my relationship with my own country and thoughts about how past trauma from colonization informs the art young people in Kenya choose to make today.
The issue of identity and boundaries of definition are saturated in Kim Namjoon, his art, and those he chooses to share.
The themes of this movement greatly mirror RM’s philosophies. The lyrics from his song ‘Still Life’ talk about refusing to be locked into a definition limited to the perception of other people.
We cannot deny that Kim Namjoon is doing amazing things for South Korea. Rewriting the country’s image and bringing awareness to important subjects around art and identity. This new role should, of course, be celebrated. He has worked hard and has come a long way to receive the recognition he has today. However, artists need a space to experience life without the responsibility of carrying a brand on their backs and having their actions fall into the scrutiny of numbers.
Today, small pleasures are only worthy if you can present them aesthetically or profit from them.
The people he mentions as inspirations for him in art, people he calls his ‘friends looking out for him,’ whether deceased (Yun Hyung-Keun) or alive and in practice like Lee Bae, are people whose art is rooted in authentic human nature. Whose words are expressive, abstract, deep, and sometimes lonely. Isolated from pieces that can easily be deciphered, these artists make subtle art that renders observers silent — going back to the inner self for them to understand nature and use it to create.
Researching RM and Art had me go back in time, back to when Kim Namjoon was a minor artist. When he spoke about what motivated him to create music in his 130702 log, he said,
“Artists make way for other artists. One person achieving their dream could help another person pursue and achieve theirs.”
His sentiment — am I a diplomat, probably came from an exhausted side. The rush to tally numbers and head counts of people coming after he was spotted at one of the exhibits feels almost soulless. It speaks to today’s pop culture. His art is almost treated as a trend. There is a deep desire for us (the ARMY) to show support and also show the world the power we have as a fandom. With certain media’s endeavors to disparage BTS and their achievements, I understand the need for numbers.
And although we did not steal art from Kim Namjoon, we found a way to make it about something else. Something without boundaries or the enjoyment of life. Something that requires stories to run and numbers to rise.
Is it worth it? Of course.
Take me, a writer, a poet, not published anywhere significant but waking up daily to bring life to ideas that run through my mind like this one. One of the reasons I persist without recognition is because of Bangtan — because of what was captured of them and shared with us.
Visiting museums, sharing the pieces he has collected, and bringing awareness to these works are Kim Namjoon’s way of loving and loving not only himself but the world around him. His world, of course, since becoming a global superstar, goes beyond the borders of his country and continent. Although there are some downsides to him now bearing the title of South Korea’s art advocate, the beauty he continues to bring into the world and the visions he continues to fuel to life (unknowingly) build a wonderful world that can rise above capitalistic intents to the best of its ability and persist on spreading BTS’ message, “Dream, Hope, Keep going.”
RM and BTS remain a fault line between the world as we see it and how we hope it will be. As they continue to talk about how amazing and sometimes miraculous it is that they are who they are today, we continue to watch and work hard on our respective lives to ensure more people have the chance to become who they want to be through the art we create and share.
For all of us creators —
Before you make art, you must be a human — Yun Hyong-Keun.
