‘Ways of Remembering the City’ – Recording on Paper and Recreating of space
How many ways are there to record things? Perhaps the methods that usually come to mind are text, pictures and photographs. ‘Ways of Remembering the City’, however, features works that record the city in the form of rubbings. This unique form of expression provides vivid urban records that can be reproduced in other spaces. Artist Heewoo Jeong has recorded the relief surfaces of signs, pavement blocks and manhole covers along Gangnam-daero [Boulevard] in the form of rubbings. The subtle features of the city, that normally escape our attention, such as cracked tarmac, worn out road surfaces and patched up paintwork therefore now take on striking priportions. These works serve to demonstrate the strengths of rubbing as a medium. The works function both as records of urban events and as vehicles to highlight memories. Other works record redevelopment sites, such as the bathhouse at the old Doha army barracks [in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul]. Rubbings of the internal walls record their forms and size with perfect accuracy. The cracked mirrors and spotted tiles give a sense of the depth of time. These works also provide perfect depictions of the heights and lengths of the original walls. The sight of the rubbings installed on the walls of Art Space 53 is a recreation of the subject space. By entering this real and vivid space, viewers are given the opportunity to experience buildings due to disappear. ‘This is an exhibition that can show memories of Seoul as a city’, says Art Space 53 curator Yujeong Chang.
Rubbing, a method that involves making accurate copies of letters or patterns carved into steel or historical artifacts, has often been used by epigraphers researching language and lettering. As a means of recording the raised and sunken details of surfaces, it makes accurate reproductions of lines and other traces not visible to the naked eye. ‘I thought of rubbings as a way of expressing things just as they are’, comments the artist on her decision to use the technique for creating works of art. Her rubbings do indeed serve to highlight the history of space and time by concentrating on reality. These works give a sense that the essence of a subject may differ according to the tools used to record it.
‘Ways of Remembering the City’ is currently in progress at Seoul 53 Hotel in Ikseon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. The venue is a former motel that has been remodeled as a guest house and gallery. The abandoned gay bar in the basement house and the first floor lobby have been reborn as exhibition spaces. A building that could have been knocked down and rebuilt has instead been preserved and reused. In this respect, it has something in common with the works at the current exhibition: the recreation of spaces that would have disappeared if simply left alone. The first exhibition space is located past the reception area, while the Old Doha Barracks Bathhous Rubbings are located in the basement where the gay bar used to be. The exhibitions runs from June 28 to July 28. <by Park, Gyehyun>
How many ways are there to record things? Perhaps the methods that usually come to mind are text, pictures and photographs. ‘Ways of Remembering the City’, however, features works that record the city in the form of rubbings. This unique form of expression provides vivid urban records that can be reproduced in other spaces. Artist Heewoo Jeong has recorded the relief surfaces of signs, pavement blocks and manhole covers along Gangnam-daero [Boulevard] in the form of rubbings. The subtle features of the city, that normally escape our attention, such as cracked tarmac, worn out road surfaces and patched up paintwork therefore now take on striking priportions. These works serve to demonstrate the strengths of rubbing as a medium. The works function both as records of urban events and as vehicles to highlight memories. Other works record redevelopment sites, such as the bathhouse at the old Doha army barracks [in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul]. Rubbings of the internal walls record their forms and size with perfect accuracy. The cracked mirrors and spotted tiles give a sense of the depth of time. These works also provide perfect depictions of the heights and lengths of the original walls. The sight of the rubbings installed on the walls of Art Space 53 is a recreation of the subject space. By entering this real and vivid space, viewers are given the opportunity to experience buildings due to disappear. ‘This is an exhibition that can show memories of Seoul as a city’, says Art Space 53 curator Yujeong Chang.
Rubbing, a method that involves making accurate copies of letters or patterns carved into steel or historical artifacts, has often been used by epigraphers researching language and lettering. As a means of recording the raised and sunken details of surfaces, it makes accurate reproductions of lines and other traces not visible to the naked eye. ‘I thought of rubbings as a way of expressing things just as they are’, comments the artist on her decision to use the technique for creating works of art. Her rubbings do indeed serve to highlight the history of space and time by concentrating on reality. These works give a sense that the essence of a subject may differ according to the tools used to record it.
‘Ways of Remembering the City’ is currently in progress at Seoul 53 Hotel in Ikseon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. The venue is a former motel that has been remodeled as a guest house and gallery. The abandoned gay bar in the basement house and the first floor lobby have been reborn as exhibition spaces. A building that could have been knocked down and rebuilt has instead been preserved and reused. In this respect, it has something in common with the works at the current exhibition: the recreation of spaces that would have disappeared if simply left alone. The first exhibition space is located past the reception area, while the Old Doha Barracks Bathhous Rubbings are located in the basement where the gay bar used to be. The exhibitions runs from June 28 to July 28. <by Park, Gyehyun>
