Statement
The initial idea of these works comes from the notion of ‘space’. When a border is applied to this space, it can either divide it or unify it. This relates to the current situation of Korea, where I come from, a space that has been divided since 1953. The border area between North and South Korea is the most symbolic of spaces expressing this political situation. Students at South Korean schools typically take a trip to a “Unification Observatory” where people can see the Demilitarized Zone that divides the North and South, and some ways further into parts of North Korea itself. My own visit to a Unification Observatory was a special experience for me, as it stimulated a part of my imagination that I could not otherwise access. A five-kilometre-wide gulf, the DMZ, rests between the borders of North and South Korea, where civilian access is restricted. This isolated area around the border has been preserved for over 60 years without human access. I thus see it as a mysterious and surrealistic place. Furthermore, my perception of the country’s division is different from those who have experienced it directly. I am of the third generation after the split. I see the border area as an unknown world, one that evokes curiosity. The division of the Korea is a tragic historical event. But when I see the border area, the most physical representation of the division that there is, I feel a sense of solemnity, stillness, and beauty there. These works describe the space using contemporary perspectives, recognising the violence that comes from the division.