East Contemporary

REAL DMZ PROJECT 2015: Lived Time of Dongsong

August 13 – 23, 2015, Dongsong, Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon-do, http://realdmz.org, curators: Keum Hyun Han, Nam-See Kim, Sunjung Kim, Hyejin Lim

The Real DMZ Project tour in Dongsong, a small village a few kilometers away from the DMZ, was most of all an experience of travel and exploration. Spending three hours in a minibus, first slowly crawling through Seoul’s traffic jams, and then shaking and jumping on bumpy roads – both the minibus and the roads seemed to be rather senior in their age. And then we arrived – Hallelujah!

Cheorwon Methodist Church

Cheorwon Methodist Church

I realized I was actually in the middle of nowhere. A small sleepy town, basically a strip of buildings along the straight road cutting through the city. Equipped with a map, I and my group spent 4 hours wandering through the street, locating artworks spread at different locations, like a treasure hunt. Usually artworks were placed one each at a separate location. Some locations were in use – an apparel shop, a clinic, a church, a coffee shop, a toilet, etc. and other locations were in derelict collapsing houses. All of the locations were small. The map was quite precise and artworks easy to find.

At first I was disappointed with the at best average quality of installation and artworks, but during the sightseeing I realized that the artworks were more functioning as excuse to explore this small sleepy city I would have otherwise never visited. Even on the day I visited, when tensions between North and South Korea peaked and combat-ready alerts have been issued on both sides of the border, life in this town seemed to go on as usual. This was the core learning of this trip: That even right beside the DMZ, the countryside does not look much different from anywhere else, and the people don’t behave much differently either. The artworks served as clues, training the visitors to re-calibrate their sight and start looking around. Nothing more, but nothing less either, and actually, something of value, I believe.

Regarding the ‘art experience’ itself, it is difficult to talk about it separately from the experience of the trip. Most installations were very basic, as you can see from the photos. The bulk consisted of photographs and videos, a few paintings and on-site sculptures thrown into the mix. The list of artists was quite long, which gave the impression that the selection was not very rigorous, which in turn meant that the quality of the works covered a whole range from professional to amateurish. My possibility of understanding the artworks was also limited (as usual) by the lack of English descriptions, so I often just glanced over works, giving up a deeper engagement in advance. On one hand I thought that less (more complex) artworks would be more, but that would also mean less locations, so I wouldn’t have visited all the weird places like a hospital, army shop or Cheorwon Middle/High School Alumni Association in a dimly lit cellar. In the end I came to respect the curators’ decision to put on a show that organically grows into the city, providing a insight into daily life and letting life compete on par with small artistic interventions.

A weird experience, but it was the weirdness that made it valuable.

Some photo-impressions:

201-24 Geumhak Street,Kim Joon, Mixed Signals

201-24 Geumhak Street, Kim Joon, Mixed Signals

201-24 Geumhak Street,Kim Joon, Mixed Signals

201-24 Geumhak Street, Kim Joon, Mixed Signals

Dong Song high street

Dongsong high street – view northwards

Pilseung Military Supplies,JI-Sun Shin, Contemplating the Landscapes

Pilseung Military Supplies, JI-Sun Shin, Contemplating the Landscapes

Huimang Photo Studio,Chung Wonyeon, Take a Look at the Flowers

Huimang Photo Studio, Chung Wonyeon, Take a Look at the Flowers

YESSE, Kim Jun-Ah, The Broken Railroads!

YESSE, Kim Jun-Ah, The Broken Railroads!

Sunkyong Kim Art Academy, Sunkyong Kim, A Little Garden

Sunkyong Kim Art Academy, Sunkyong Kim, A Little Garden

Dongsong high street - view from Sunkyong Kim Art Academy roomtop

Dongsong high street – view southwards from Sunkyong Kim Art Academy rooftop

Geum-Poong Inn

Geum-Poong Inn

Geum-Poong Inn, Hong Yoo-Kyung, A Field

Geum-Poong Inn, Hong Yoo-Kyung, A Field

Geum-Poong Inn, Jehyun Shin, Alarming Number of

Geum-Poong Inn, Jehyun Shin, Alarming Number of

Dongsong Traditional Market (Service Center/Merchants’ Association),Seoul National University Graduate School of Environmental Studies DMZ Studio, Everyday Space Workshop / Pyongsang Maru Design Building + Cheorwon Future Vision Workshop

Dongsong Traditional Market (Service Center/Merchants’ Association), Seoul National University Graduate School of Environmental Studies DMZ Studio, Everyday Space Workshop / Pyongsang Maru Design Building + Cheorwon Future Vision Workshop

Dongsong Traditional Market (Service Center/Merchants’ Association),Seoul National University Graduate School of Environmental Studies DMZ Studio, Everyday Space Workshop / Pyongsang Maru Design Building + Cheorwon Future Vision Workshop

Dongsong Traditional Market (Service Center/Merchants’ Association), Seoul National University Graduate School of Environmental Studies DMZ Studio, Everyday Space Workshop / Pyongsang Maru Design Building + Cheorwon Future Vision Workshop

Dongsong Traditional Market male toilet, Kim Jun-Ah, The Broken Railroads!

Dongsong Traditional Market male toilet, Kim Jun-Ah, The Broken Railroads!

Dongsong Traditional Market male toilet, Kim Jun-Ah, The Broken Railroads!

Dongsong Traditional Market male toilet, Kim Jun-Ah, The Broken Railroads!

 

Cheorwon Methodist ChurchYoungjoo Cho, DMG_Demilitarized Goddesses

Cheorwon Methodist Church Youngjoo Cho, DMG_Demilitarized Goddesses

PX21 Dongsong Branch (Cellphone Locker), ps jinjoo kim, Proposed Time in Dongsong

PX21 Dongsong Branch (Cellphone Locker), ps jinjoo kim, Proposed Time in Dongsong

PX21 Dongsong Branch (Cellphone Locker), ps jinjoo kim, Proposed Time in Dongsong

PX21 Dongsong Branch (Cellphone Locker), ps jinjoo kim, Proposed Time in Dongsong

Cheorwon Middle/High School Alumni Association , Alain Declercq, HEADQUARTER

Cheorwon Middle/High School Alumni Association, Alain Declercq, HEADQUARTER

Blue Star Veteran’s Association

Blue Star Veteran’s Association

ROK MP Service Center

ROK MP Service Center

Blue Star Veteran’s Association, Kang Seoung Gyu+Jeong Seung Ik, Freezing Point

Blue Star Veteran’s Association, Kang Seoung Gyu+Jeong Seung Ik, Freezing Point

Blue Star Veteran’s Association, Kim Dohee, Endless Barbed Wire Fence

Blue Star Veteran’s Association, Kim Dohee, Endless Barbed Wire Fence

Cheorwon Catholic Church,Soyoung Chung+Dongsei Kim, Terminal: Far and Near

Cheorwon Catholic Church, Soyoung Chung+Dongsei Kim, Terminal: Far and Near

Cheorwon Catholic Church, Kim So Young, Shim Bo Seon, Light House (or Kang Hee Jung, They Loved Each Other - not sure)

Cheorwon Catholic Church, Kim So Young, Shim Bo Seon, Light House (or Kang Hee Jung, They Loved Each Other?)

 

The Kind Coffee, Yang yun im, Eyescrime

The Kind Coffee, Yang yun im, Eyescrime

272 Geumhak Street, Jin Heewoong, EVERYTHING IS REALLY GOING TO BE ALRIGHT

272 Geumhak Street, Jin Heewoong, EVERYTHING IS REALLY GOING TO BE ALRIGHT

Gwanjeon Police Station,Kwon Yongju, We’ll see you at the top

Gwanjeon Police Station, Kwon Yongju, We’ll see you at the top

Kimsunkyong Gallery

Kimsunkyong Gallery

Dongsong Bus Terminal

Dongsong Bus Terminal

Unification Noodle

Unification Noodles

Full list of artworks:

Dongsong Bus Terminal Soyoung Chung+Dongsei Kim, Terminal: Far and Near
Kim Jun-Ah, The Broken Railroads!
Heo Su Bin, Invisible Danger
Lee Jae Ho, Camouflage
Narae Telecom Sindae Kang, #DMZ
Cheorwon Methodist Church Youngjoo Cho, DMG_Demilitarized Goddesses
PX21 Dongsong Branch Bae Minkyung, The Sound of Waves
    (Cellphone Locker) ps jinjoo kim, Proposed Time in Dongsong
Cheorwon Middle/High School Jin Chul kyu, Flying Kite in Cheorwon – D.M.Z
    Alumni Association Dae Jin Choi, A/One Day (The Most Faraway Place I Went to, the Place to which I Want to Go, Suddenly…What’s Left
Choi Gene-uk, North Korean Labor Party Office A, North Korean Labor Party Office B
Kim Junyoung, Dongsong City series
LeeHaiMinSun, A Square Stone and Green Grass, DMZ-land
Alain Declercq, HEADQUARTER
Blue Star Veteran’s Association Kang Seoung Gyu+Jeong Seung Ik, Freezing Point
Kim Dohee, Endless Barbed Wire Fence
86 Ipyeong Street Kang Hyunah, Dongsong DMZ Eco-Tourism
SK Telecom Hayoun Kwon, 489 years
    Dongsong Branch HyeKyung Ham, A Man from afar
Cheorwon Catholic Church Kim So Young, Shim Bo Seon, Light House
Soyoung Chung+Dongsei Kim, Terminal: Far and Near
Kang Hee Jung, They Loved Each Other
265 Geumhak Street Remi Klemensiewicz, Speaker Flag
Gwanjeon Police Station Kwon Yongju, We’ll see you at the top
DMZ Real Estate Jehyun Shin, Alarming Number of
Kimsunkyong Gallery Ko Young-taeg, A Walk
Jaewoo Oh, The Other Side of the Moon
Yang Youn-Hwa, 38 Years
272 Geumhak Street Jin Heewoong, EVERYTHING IS REALLY GOING TO BE ALRIGHT
Saerona Park Jin Heewoong, Blank
Meritz Fire HongLee Hyun-Sook, DMZ Pan Pipe of Mago Halmi
Kim Kyoung-Ho, 17-jul-2015
The Kind Coffee Lee-Park Kim, Moving Gardening – DMZ
Yang yun im, Eyescrime
Kim Jun-Ah, The Broken Railroads!
Sungshim Pharmacy Chung Wonyeon, Tablet for Soldier’s Heart
Dongsong Traditional Marker     (Service Center/Merchants’     Association) Seoul National University Graduate School of Environmental Studies DMZ Studio, Everyday Space Workshop / Pyongsang Maru Design Building + Cheorwon Future Vision Workshop
Rayeon Kim, Language < Line/Land, ‹At the Moment series
Jeong Ki Hoon, The Sunshine Moment
Kim Jun-Ah, The Broken Railroads!
Appeal Shop Kim Hyunjoo, Summer in Yugokri
Geum-Poong Inn Joongho Yum, Melting Memories
Kim Taedong, rifling series
Hong Yoo-Kyung, A Field
Jehyun Shin, Alarming Number of
Pilseung Military Supplies JI-Sun Shin, Contemplating the Landscapes
Huimang Photo Studio Chung Wonyeon, Take a Look at the Flowers
Dongwon Korean Medicinic     Clinic Kim Jypeong, Eight Sceneries, ‹Half of the Bodyscape
YESSE Kim Jun-Ah, The Broken Railroads!
Sunkyong Kim Art Academy Sunkyong Kim, A Little Garden
201-24 Geumhak Street Kim Joon, Mixed Signals
Timeless Bae Byoungkyu, The Light of Dusk, The Soil sings
Park Kyung Jin, recruit
Park Yumi, Chance Maker
Kim Jun-Ah, The Broken Railroads!

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