Live Forever is a multi-media installation consisting of three karaoke pods in the form of futuristic race cars, and three original videos. This ambitious project continues Bul’s investigation of karaoke, a form of entertainment that has been wildly popular in Asian urban centers for over a decade. Her earlier project exploring the subject was Gravity Greater Than Velocity, an installation first exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1999.
Each karaoke pod in Live Forever was first carved in Styrofoam, which was then used to cast the forms in fiberglass. The interiors are upholstered in leather, and equipped with sound systems and a small video monitor that plays one of three videos—Amateurs, Anthem, or Live Forever—while the words of the chosen song scroll by. The enclosed pods are comfortable and private, allowing individual participants to sing their favorite song at full volume should they desire to do so. While the audio is not played outside the karaoke booths, the video and lyrics are projected onto the wall opposite each pod, a gesture that heightens the ambivalence between public and private that characterizes each participant’s performance.
The exhibition of Live Forever was produced collaboratively with FWM and the San Francisco Art Institute. While FWM worked with Bul to create the karaoke pods, the San Francisco Art Institute assisted the artist with the production of the video by the same name, filmed in the Tonga Room of the historic Fairmount Hotel.