Pictionary :
On the Amnok river
and An artist’s tools series
@Border_less.site at 문화역서울284, Seoul, Korea Directed by Junglim foundation
http://junglim.org/borderless_site/
‘Border_less.site’ is a research/exhibition project with other artists, architects, researchers, and curators. This exhibition began with research into various fields, including sociology, cultural anthropology, and architecture history in the Sinuiju-Dandong area (border area between North Korea and China). And we went on a research trip in 2019 to the border, avoiding airspace and land of North Korea.
I made objects and landscapes through a process of figuration in fiction. The subjective visual definition is embodied in the artwork as in “Pictionary” (a game in which players try to identify specific words or concepts from their teammates’ drawings), which poses questions to audiences during the exhibition. Recognizing the process of the exhibition as a type of Pictionary, I deal with ‘our gaze’ within the three main stages of ‘experiences and record through research’, ‘observation and exploration’ and ‘art making for the exhibition’.
It recalls a time when I was busy observing the border area, ranging from looking at North Korea through a rental telescope for tourists on a ferry flying the Chinese flag on the Amnok River, to looking at Mt. Geumgang through a large military telescope at DMZ Observatory in South Korea. This is similar to the art-making process of observing nude models in the studio for croquis. It overlaps the days when I and other people shared thoughts on their drawings. What stories do the works from different perspectives in the exhibition hall have? Perhaps the object of observation disappears and only the object drawn on the paper is left.On the Amnok River
2021
230 x 720 cm
Oil, acrylic on canvas
Research trip note
@Sinuiju-Dandong,
Border area between North Korea and China
The Yalu River serves as a border between China and North Korea. This river, flowing through the northeastern Asia region, plays a significant geographical role and connects China's Jilin Province with North Korea's Pyongyang. The Yalu River is not only a crucial landmark for defining the border between the two countries but also serves as a shared resource, influencing cooperation and relations between China and North Korea.