114So Dongho’s works don’t seem to have a uniform formal
language. Living objects ranging from lighting, chairs, tables,
storage furniture, magnets to posters, and are all the result
of different approaches and processes. He sets the starting
points of his designs not at the function but at the selected
material and technique. Although he has presented work
with a strong Korean identity, the definition ‘vernacular
design’ is not enough to explain the character of his work.
Combining natural and industrial materials, traditional craft
and machining techniques at the right moment to create
works of both familiar and unfamiliar impressions. As head of
‘studio sodongho’ in Sallim-dong, Euljiro, he is now working
as an independent designer.Choi Eunhwa (Choi): At first, you presented work that
focused primarily on traditional craft. Is tradition the crucial
basis of your works?
So Dongho (So): Much of my work is inspired by the
techniques, materials, and images of Korean traditional
craft, and I have participated in workshops and chased local
artisans to learn the particulars of various traditional crafts. I
have done so to employ the diverse attributes of traditional
crafts as my design sources rather than mastering tradition
as a craftsman. I believe I can establish my own identity
while combining a sense of both tradition and modern
design, and I hope I can have in-depth discussions when I
collaborate with artisans.Choi: What is your particular motivation for reinterpreting
tradition and integrating it within your own design?
So: While craftsmen typically concentrate on the specific
material or technique, I enjoy a variety of attempts in order
to imagine what kind of effect could be created when a
specific material is combined with a new technique. In the
Origami series, the pendant and lighting of a geometricvolume have been created by folding traditional Korean
paper, and the Ban-sang lamp, a table stand lamp, has been
made by reconstructing a rice bowl, soup bowl, spoon and
chopsticks on a Korean lacquered table for one person.
Works such as the Nak-dong series drew upon the Nakdong
technique, burning the surface of paulownia wood to give a
dark colour and hardness when lacquering in making tables,
partitions, and chairs. While I work, I try to figure out which
technique best display the characteristics of the chosen
material, which effect could be made by using materials with
contrasting natures, and what kind of harmony could be
achieved by combining materials, techniques, and forms.Choi: Since opening ‘studio sodongho’ in Euljiro, you have
used more materials than ever before. Your selection
of industrial materials such as brass, iron and plastic is
remarkable.
So: In Euljiro, the starting point of any one work is usually the
technique. A walk around Euljiro will reveal to you that there
are so many techniques. One of them is Sibori. Once I find
one technique, I try to figure out the exact definition of the
technique, why the metalworking specialists don’t adopt the
technique, what materials the technique can be applied to,
and what form it can take, and so on. This led to the creation
of lightings Sibori series. There are a lot of vague industrial
terms such as ‘Sibori’ and ‘Pau’. Until now, Japanese terms
from Japanese colonial period have been used. I could
satisfy my curiosity as I summarized those words like
dictionary definition.Choi: You seem to have a special affection for Euljiro.
So: I have had a sustained affection and interest in Euljiro.
At first, I tried to figure out how to use the abundance of
materials and techniques. Now, however, I have come to
think about even what I can do in Euljiro. Nowadays, Euljiro is
abuzz with redevelopment. My favourite pub, Eulji OB Bear,
also escaped closure, and I cooperated with acquaintances
to create a performance work communicated through my
personal social media platforms.Choi: What do you think is the most Euljiro work?
So: My room could only really be realised in Euljiro. At the
request of the Junggu Office, I installed a landscape lighting
fixture on the exterior wall of a building to symbolically
express the specialized Euljiro lighting street. With the hope
of realising the coziness of a dark room by using only one
lightning fixture in a city corner, I made the simplest work oflighting on a huge scale. I wished to produce it in Euljiro but
I couldn’t find a workshop large enough to handle an object
over 3m, which meant I had to manufacture in Paju and bring
it to Euljiro. In fact, I was worried at first as I had never done
anything bigger than my own height, but if I don’t have my
own building, how can I attempt objects on such a scale?
Although I had many difficulties, from finding installers to
considering the potential risk factors of the lighting to the
building and the street, I managed to complete the project
with a great deal of support from others.Choi: Street Chairs of Seoul is interesting that you yourself
are a furniture designer but that you chose to draw a line
between the chairs out on the streets to the archive instead
of designing your own.
So: I took pictures of chairs I found on the streets from
2017 to 2018. Unlike that of ready-made products, it was
interesting to find that some elements had been removed
or added to the chairs, depending on who used them and
where they were placed. As this archive began to increase,
I decided to create a poster showing 100 chairs at once, as
an homage to the Chair Collection Poster at the Vitra Design
Museum. Seeing the poster from a distance, quite a few
people take it for the Vitra’s own, as it is in the same format.
A closer look however proves that they are not quality chairs
made by European modern designers, but contemporary
ones in the streets of Seoul. The contrast of these two
contradictory branches is enjoyable. My final goal for Street
Chairs of Seoul is to collect 224 street chairs and produce
a larger version of the poster, as in the Vitra posters. I am
planning to complete it next year.Choi: You are extending your scope of observation from
Euljiro and Seoul to the whole of Korea. I would like to know
more about the background to Pojangmacha Seoul, with its
theme of the orange coloured cart bar that can be easily
observed on the streets in Korea.
So: I think one of the most unique identifying characteristics
of Seoul and South Korea is pojangmacha, the cart bar.
When you meet it in a dark alley you may experience a
warm atmosphere, as if one as left just one light on. With
love for this feeling, I made a scaled-down lighting fixture
in the shape of the cart bar. I also produced shoulder bags
with the cart bar covering. Some say that they remind them
of the Freitag bags made of recycled truck waterproofing
material, but they are not made of this real covering used for
cart bars. I used the same material to show how the identity114 ART PRISM_TALK THE VIVID ARCHIVING OF MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUESSo Dongho’s works don’t seem to have a uniform formal
language. Living objects ranging from lighting, chairs, tables,
storage furniture, magnets to posters, and are all the result
of different approaches and processes. He sets the starting
points of his designs not at the function but at the selected
material and technique. Although he has presented work
with a strong Korean identity, the definition ‘vernacular
design’ is not enough to explain the character of his work.
Combining natural and industrial materials, traditional craft
and machining techniques at the right moment to create
works of both familiar and unfamiliar impressions. As head of
‘studio sodongho’ in Sallim-dong, Euljiro, he is now working
as an independent designer.
Choi Eunhwa (Choi): At first, you presented work that
focused primarily on traditional craft. Is tradition the crucial
basis of your works?
So Dongho (So): Much of my work is inspired by the
techniques, materials, and images of Korean traditional
craft, and I have participated in workshops and chased local
artisans to learn the particulars of various traditional crafts. I
have done so to employ the diverse attributes of traditional
crafts as my design sources rather than mastering tradition
as a craftsman. I believe I can establish my own identity
while combining a sense of both tradition and modern
design, and I hope I can have in-depth discussions when I
collaborate with artisans.
Choi: What is your particular motivation for reinterpreting
tradition and integrating it within your own design?
So: While craftsmen typically concentrate on the specific
material or technique, I enjoy a variety of attempts in order
to imagine what kind of effect could be created when a
specific material is combined with a new technique. In the
Origami series, the pendant and lighting of a geometric
volume have been created by folding traditional Korean
paper, and the Ban-sang lamp, a table stand lamp, has been
made by reconstructing a rice bowl, soup bowl, spoon and
chopsticks on a Korean lacquered table for one person.
Works such as the Nak-dong series drew upon the Nakdong
technique, burning the surface of paulownia wood to give a
dark colour and hardness when lacquering in making tables,
partitions, and chairs. While I work, I try to figure out which
technique best display the characteristics of the chosen
material, which effect could be made by using materials with
contrasting natures, and what kind of harmony could be
achieved by combining materials, techniques, and forms.Choi: Since opening ‘studio sodongho’ in Euljiro, you have
used more materials than ever before. Your selection
of industrial materials such as brass, iron and plastic is
remarkable.
So: In Euljiro, the starting point of any one work is usually the
technique. A walk around Euljiro will reveal to you that there
are so many techniques. One of them is Sibori. Once I find
one technique, I try to figure out the exact definition of the
technique, why the metalworking specialists don’t adopt the
technique, what materials the technique can be applied to,
and what form it can take, and so on. This led to the creation
of lightings Sibori series. There are a lot of vague industrial
terms such as ‘Sibori’ and ‘Pau’. Until now, Japanese terms
from Japanese colonial period have been used. I could
satisfy my curiosity as I summarized those words like
dictionary definition.Choi: You seem to have a special affection for Euljiro.
So: I have had a sustained affection and interest in Euljiro.
At first, I tried to figure out how to use the abundance of
materials and techniques. Now, however, I have come to
think about even what I can do in Euljiro. Nowadays, Euljiro is
abuzz with redevelopment. My favourite pub, Eulji OB Bear,
also escaped closure, and I cooperated with acquaintances
to create a performance work communicated through my
personal social media platforms.Choi: What do you think is the most Euljiro work?
So: My room could only really be realised in Euljiro. At the
request of the Junggu Office, I installed a landscape lighting
fixture on the exterior wall of a building to symbolically
express the specialized Euljiro lighting street. With the hope
of realising the coziness of a dark room by using only one
lightning fixture in a city corner, I made the simplest work oflighting on a huge scale. I wished to produce it in Euljiro but
I couldn’t find a workshop large enough to handle an object
over 3m, which meant I had to manufacture in Paju and bring
it to Euljiro. In fact, I was worried at first as I had never done
anything bigger than my own height, but if I don’t have my
own building, how can I attempt objects on such a scale?
Although I had many difficulties, from finding installers to
considering the potential risk factors of the lighting to the
building and the street, I managed to complete the project
with a great deal of support from others.Choi: Street Chairs of Seoul is interesting that you yourself
are a furniture designer but that you chose to draw a line
between the chairs out on the streets to the archive instead
of designing your own.
So: I took pictures of chairs I found on the streets from
2017 to 2018. Unlike that of ready-made products, it was
interesting to find that some elements had been removed
or added to the chairs, depending on who used them and
where they were placed. As this archive began to increase,
I decided to create a poster showing 100 chairs at once, as
an homage to the Chair Collection Poster at the Vitra Design
Museum. Seeing the poster from a distance, quite a few
people take it for the Vitra’s own, as it is in the same format.
A closer look however proves that they are not quality chairs
made by European modern designers, but contemporary
ones in the streets of Seoul. The contrast of these two
contradictory branches is enjoyable. My final goal for Street
Chairs of Seoul is to collect 224 street chairs and produce
a larger version of the poster, as in the Vitra posters. I am
planning to complete it next year.Choi: You are extending your scope of observation from
Euljiro and Seoul to the whole of Korea. I would like to know
more about the background to Pojangmacha Seoul, with its
theme of the orange coloured cart bar that can be easily
observed on the streets in Korea.
So: I think one of the most unique identifying characteristics
of Seoul and South Korea is pojangmacha, the cart bar.
When you meet it in a dark alley you may experience a
warm atmosphere, as if one as left just one light on. With
love for this feeling, I made a scaled-down lighting fixture
in the shape of the cart bar. I also produced shoulder bags
with the cart bar covering. Some say that they remind them
of the Freitag bags made of recycled truck waterproofing
material, but they are not made of this real covering used for
cart bars. I used the same material to show how the identityART PRISM_TALK THE VIVID ARCHIVING OF MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES