JUXTAPOZ.COM 57ON THE OUTSIDE
and at that time, redevelopment was happening
throughout Seoul. It is and was easy to work
because the development sites are prohibited
from public access and the workers are resting
at night or on weekends. I naturally chose that
place to work, and as a result, came into contact
with the residents and construction workers who
lived in the development site. The stories I saw
and heard on the field naturally affected my work,
and the physically destructive situation caused by
redevelopment was also very visually stimulating.
It further amplified my interest in the material
that makes up a city.
You seem to be interested in time, memory
and the past, but not in a nostalgic way.
However, there’s something both poetic and
a little melancholic about how you treat walls
and space. You treat the wall quite seriously.
I think it is because of the situation in Korea.
For over ten years, South Korea has been
very confused, both politically and socially.
Redevelopment is one aspect. There is an old
neighborhood called Ah Hyun-dong in Seoul,
which was disappearing due to redevelopment,
and I worked there for about two years because it
was close to where I live. In the meantime, there
was a case where a person who was opposed to
the redevelopment got hit by an excavator and
died. It happens often with conflicts between
residents and construction companies; tragic
events occur because proper compensation is not
provided to the residents after redevelopment.
However, I noticed that there was no coverage
on any media. In fact, I didn’t know what was
happening before I worked at the site.
In 2011, I had the opportunity to do a residency
in Busan, at this place called Funny Revenge, a
gathering place for subculture such as graffiti,
hip hop and contemporary artists and activists.
I became interested in politics because of the
influence of the activists I met there. For many
years, Korea has undergone a great upheaval, so
I don't think it was special in my case to have
gained political awareness, and the influence
becomes revealed through the work. Moving to
Berlin in 2017, I was able to focus purely on the
material that makes up the city itself. The Re-Mix
series was the first of many works created and
inspired by moving to Berlin.
You’re probably best known for your Dots series
of public art works, which were initially made
up of your own fingerprints but went on to
become more collective, incorporating refugees
and other migrants. What was the initial
concept behind creating the work, and how has
it developed?
The first Dots work in Busan, South Korea, was
done entirely by myself. It was the result of the
direct and indirect experiences of not being able
to catch up with the pace of the ever-changing
metropolis, and it was also an attempt to heal
the trauma caused by the Sewol ferry incident.
In St. Petersburg, during the exhibition Crossing
Borders/Crossing Boundaries, the theme was
extended to the subject of European migrants
and refugee issues, including the situation in
Korea. I imprinted fingerprints on the outer walls
of the Street Art Museum with six illegal migrant
workers in St Petersburg. While imprintingour fingerprints, we talked about our lives and
memories as individuals, apart from the history or
existence as refugees, migrants or artists.When I did the Dots in Besançon, France, that
was the moment when the work really evolved
into a dimension beyond myself. More than 200
people, including refugees who are legal residents
in Besançon, immigrants, tourists from many
different cities and countries, and local residents
voluntarily participated in the production of
a mural. If the works within the Dots series inTop and bottom: Dots: Motgol66, Motgol, Busan, South Korea, 2015, Photos by Young-moon Ha