뉴 서울 프로젝트 New SEOUL Project

Seoul-Heterotopia(Utopia in reality) ● Among big cities around the world, Seoul is the only one that embraces mountains within the city. Unlike cities lying on a flatland, Seoul is a distinctive place with four mountains (Inwangsan, Namsan, Naksan and Bugaksan) and Bukhansan, Yongmasan, Gwanaksan and Deokyangsan that surround those four and rivers flowing through them. It is space where nature in downtown serves as a landmark along with artificial ones and also where temporality of the past has been preserved intact with the city's unique old landscapes. In addition, Fortress Wall of Seoul connects flatlands and ridges of mountains over 18km and encircles the entire Seoul so anyone can easily enjoy beautiful scenery in their neighborhood. ● Seoul where buildings and living space spread out between overlapped mountains like a jigsaw puzzle with Hangang River flowing through is utopia in reality to modern people, that is, heterotopia.

조풍류_The Blue Sea at Night-Mt. Inwang_캔버스에 혼합재료_91×117cm_2017

권인경_Heart-land 2016_한지에 고서 콜라주, 수묵채색, 아크릴채색_290×470cm_2016

Seoul has a deformed structure where numerous time and space has been compressed in a short period of time. This deformation is not only limited to its form but to immanence of surprisingly various life forms and memories within it. ● A 'place' is where memories are stored. What brings back memories of a place is human's maps, records and statements on memory traces. ● I try to find diverse shapes of life related to the place of Seoul and reenactment of the place through works. It is a rediscovery of Seoul and landscapes found in that course are to face countless memories and history generated in the process of building and destroying a place; to approach utopia that we long for and; ultimately to look at ourselves through this way, rather than to find its aesthetic elements. ■ Inkyoung Kwon

박능생_ln-Wang San_한지에 붉은 잉크_60×85cm_2017

This study is on the expression of placeness revealed in the art works of urban landscape paintings. these painting began from traditional oriental landscape paintings using mostly oriental painting brush and ink stick and evolved into paintings of cities and urbanites' lives using various media as tools. of expression For myself as an artist, who has been living in cities since my college years after having spent a childhood in the midst of great nature, the change of environment is also the transformational process of my work. The current time and space that I am involved in is being expressed in my work as 'placeness'. The place is where the human befing lives with incidents and meanings that are unfolded seperately from the space that has been physically unfolded. My works are being created as I travel to various places that are cities where the traces of human lives can be sensed, so that I can directly experience them for myself. My every experience is being sensitized and converted into my work. This process is defined as 'incarnated placeness' in this study. ■ Nuengsaeng Park

박영길_Wind-road_한지에 채색_92.5×207cm_2015

About my work ● Most people forget about their spaces, although they are living there. Their fast-paced life doesn't let them notice the changes in their surroundings. Whether or not they do it depends on their mindset. In the meantime, the landscapes around us change eternally with the repeated cycle of birth and death. While we focus on ourselves, spring and summer stay with us briefly and disappear repeatedly. Between the conversation of people everywhere, the wind passes them with invisible movement. The mountains, which are supposed to stay at one place, continue to move through the fog and clouds. ● To show the things that don't get much attention around us, I walk around everywhere to find and describe them. Just because we know the classics doesn't mean we have read them all or understand them well. Likewise, most Seoul residents don't know about that city very well. There are numerous areas they have yet to explore. The city landscapes continue to change over time ― whether we realize it or not. When I climb up an old castle or walk around a stream nearby, I always get a different scenery. I collect the new sceneries through sketches and photos, while I am walking around, driving, or travelling. I try to depict the wind, trees, and lands with all my senses and feelings. ● When I describe a landscape, I try to recreate the people and situations with a realistic description. I create a new situational space through a group of unspecified individuals of our times. That's why I use borrowed sceneries, which is a traditional method of Korean paintings. ● When people look at my paintings, they perceive themselves differently or imagine new spaces as the characters in the paintings. It can give them new feelings. When artists portray the same scenery, no paintings look the same, because each artist has a different style of expressing the lines. On a windy road, I would like to portray an object with a linear language, my own style, and different perspectives on time and space. ■ Young-gil Park

Vol.20170426e | 뉴 서울 프로젝트 New SEOUL Project展