The artwork that represents the collection of SIGNIEL SEOUL, a veritable museum nestled inside a hotel with arresting sculptures and a numerous works of art, is a work by the American artist Jenny Holzer, located in the main lobby on the 79th floor. This installation, which offers the viewer a rare chance to take in the work of a contemporary world-class conceptual artist from close quarters, is entitled “True Living,” composed of phrases reflecting insights and values gleaned from life, and conveys ever-changing messages to the viewer during the more than 13 hours of running time. Therefore, it is possible to encounter new texts even on repeat visits, like the phrase of the day that is renewed every day. At times, it feels as if someone is reading the words out loud to you like a poem; the artist explains that this is due to the form of the moving LED signs, which can highlight, stream, or stop the text, making it feel like a visual depiction of a human voice and its intonation. In addition, the texts that appear in crisscrossing red, blue, green, pink, and a multitude of other colors on the LED screen make for a painterly effect of colors running.

Jenny Holzer, an artist who communicates with the public through message-laden text, is an American conceptual artist and environmental activist. Her compelling ideas, which she molds in the form of short slogans projected via printed material, outdoor billboards, and LED displays, rouse those who are inured to words and images, demanding their conscious thought and reflection. Using language as the most important means of communication in her work, she garnered recognition as an artist with the phrase “Protect Me From What I Want” installed in Times Square in 1985. She received the Golden Lion Award at the 1990 Venice Biennale in Italy, and was the first female artist to represent the U.S. Pavilion. In 1996, she received the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum, and the Barnard Medal in 2011, bolstering an international reputation for staging a wide variety of work in well-known public places and famous museums around the world, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York and Bilbao, the Whitney Museum, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi.