National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul

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The steel-frame structure, bent like the stooped waist of the former Republic of Korea Army's Defense Security Command, still remains atop the roof. The massive rectangular wall makes one pause without meaning to, and the tiered lighting hanging from the ceiling unfolds quietly, like a soft breath flowing over Mark Rothko's dark color fields. Walking along the corridor, a small room where Nam June Paik's video work plays flickers past, and with each flight of stairs, the brushwork of Lee Jung-seob seems to sweep slowly across. Contemporary art brushes against the bones of this building, as though past and present regard each other from different vantage points. The breeze seeping between the works hanging on the walls leaves a lingering sense, as if the museum itself were breathing.