Same Walls

My artworks in this exhibition explored two themes in the form of triptych, which is a work of art that is divided into three sections or images. The first one is titled ‘ThereAfter’, featuring images that show the different changes an object goes through over time, while the second is titled ‘Same Walls’, which portrays varying perceptions of the same object in the same place according to the viewer’s perspective. The images in the two artworks were taken on the old, abandoned streets near Euljilo, located in the center of Seoul in South Korea.

The creation of ‘Same Walls’ began with a focus on the old walls of narrow alleys that the people who have lived and worked there must have seen and walked by for decades. Most visitors would only notice the mere existence of these narrow alleys, but it was different for me: I had lived in a house that had no view at all, surrounded by the walls of nearby buildings, so the suffocating view of the narrow alleys actually bothered me and made me think about the views of alleys in general. I took a photo of an alley from a visitor’s perspective, while standing in front of a store. I then turned 90 degrees to photograph the wall on the opposite side of the store and turned another 90 degrees in the same direction to take a picture of the store itself. Afterward, I placed the three images in a ‘ㄷ’ shape to recreate exactly what I had seen in that space. Regarding the history of mankind, it is said that human beings all lived nomadic lives. Our ancestors must have become broad-minded while looking out at the vast plains and beautiful scenery. However, people today, obsessed with increasing productivity, have built too many buildings in a limited space, leaving ourselves with narrower and narrower views. One day, I realized that I had become a bit narrow-minded after living in a home with no view at all. Likewise, I believe that it is highly likely that the perception of human beings has become narrow due to our narrowing views.