The Space between Creation and Destruction

“Topos koinos,” or the shared common space, is in danger of extinction. Cities are only used as indicators of economy or politics, and no longer function as a place of living, which used to be their essence. People have hide their place of living inside thin steel fences, and have changed it into the functional urban space which guarantees benefits based on extravagant development plan. I walked into the space which is hidden by the steel fences and cannot be seen by the people who live in it, such as redevelopment area or reconstruction sites of new town. There, I look for the scenes of urbanization, and recorded the scenes as form of photos, directly intervening the scenes. Construction Site, Demolition Site, and Reconstruction Site are the works about those sites inside the steel fences.

'Demolition Site' I sneaked into a building that was scheduled to be torn down, and painted the inner walls red before I photographed them. After the demolition I went in again, looking for traces of that red paint. By documenting the red walls that were broken down into smaller and smaller pieces as the building was de¬stroyed, I chased after the fate of this red room that would, in the end, disappear into the void as an anonymous piece of concrete. The red room was a private space that dissolved when faced with a system of redevelopment. I reveal what kind of space the city we are living in is, and how the city as a place of community is vanishing. It is how I raise questions about the rash thoughtlessness of urbanization. Finding the red room where traces of an individual’s life still reside from within the spectacle of demolition is a work to recover and recognize the city as a place for living. The photographs were taken at the demolition sites of Lu 1 City in Gajeong-dong, Incheon, and Deokcheon maeul, Anyang. Neither site exists today.

'Red room' started with printing out a part of the red room, which was exposed outside because of the demolition. I filled the wall of an exhibition space in the dark room I intentionally made with the print. Then I installed spot lamps there and made them light up the red traces. I wanted to reenact the moment I discovered the red traces. Also, by choosing installation as my display style, I tried to overcome the limitation of the traditional photo display style, where all the photos are exhibited in regular sized-frames.

The Space between Creation and Destruction

“Topos koinos,” or the shared common space, is in danger of extinction. Cities are only used as indicators of economy or politics, and no longer function as a place of living, which used to be their essence. People have hide their place of living inside thin steel fences, and have changed it into the functional urban space which guarantees benefits based on extravagant development plan. I walked into the space which is hidden by the steel fences and cannot be seen by the people who live in it, such as redevelopment area or reconstruction sites of new town. There, I look for the scenes of urbanization, and recorded the scenes as form of photos, directly intervening the scenes. Construction Site, Demolition Site, and Reconstruction Site are the works about those sites inside the steel fences.

'Reconstruction Site' consists of series of photos of the reconstruction site of Jugong Apartment Complex 2 in Gaepo-dong, Gangnam. The apartment complex, which was built during the early stage of development of Gangnam-gu, is located between Tower Palace, the newest mixed-use residential and the green belt.

‘Reconstruction’ refers to the redevelopment of old apartment by demolishing an old and low-rise apartment, and transforming it into new and high-rise one. After reconstruction, the apartment is given again to the original residents, with better floor area ratio.

In the process of the reconstruction, the residents form a housing reconstruction association, and offer their apartments after consultation for economic benefits. In this process of collectivization of individuals, I sneaked in to the apartment building, and painted each house red under the cooperation of the association..

As the demolition of the apartment complex proceeded, the red traces on the walls met into one line or become shorter and shorter lines and finally perished while the building collapsed. Observing those changes of lines, I could find the process of collectivization of individual space into an apartment complex, chronologically arranged looks of development of the city over the red lines, and another aspect of urban environment, such as green belt.

A 'construction site' is where the act of destroying nature collides with the act of creating a place to live. It does not exist until the apartments are completed and a functional space appears amidst high-speed urbanization. From the interiors of the structures, I was able to find a point that conflicts with the di¬chotomy of construction sites. Then, by interfering with the order of the functional matters and discovering their tranquil side, I tried to express this seemingly rational, objective construction site as a personal and emotional space. These images were taken while exploring the construction sites of large apartment complexes that are now complete and fully functioning as homes in Pangyo New City in Bundang, Cheongra New City in Incheon, and Shinnae Development sites in Seoul.

'Construction Site Dreg' Building materials have their own function and usually remain as part of the building. However, sometimes the materials are disposed, re-classified and then recycled as new materials. These remnants from the construction sites have become a good subject for my photography. Although the residues were partly functioning until the architecture is completed, they are disposed upon completion of construction, losing their functionalities and then are re-classified as a different object. However, I think this is the moment of rebirth to integral perfection. Remnants are the result of unforeseen calculation of functionalism but I consider them not as garbage, but as objects of functionalism without any fixed formats.