Post-Border Line

I’m trying to reinterpret the true identity of Korea, the world’s only divided nation, and the boundaries of ideologies through my work. I hope to reveal how the legacy deviated form the war became mystified and how the war products turned into cultural or political capitals. I want my work to show how so many different groups have coexisted under the absurd system that demands self-sacrifice for the greater good, such as those who lost the loved ones during the war, dispersed families due to the truce, as well as North Korean refugees. The excessive expansion of capitalism spoiled the purity of the land. The boarder areas and the DMZ already degraded to tourist destinations, and the promotional slogans for peace, liberty, or reunification turned into well-displayed products in a showcase. The recent incidents in Korea, like the Cheonam Navy Ship sinking, the Yeonpyeong attack or North Korea’s nuclear problem, suggest that the wars are not over yet. Despite such insecurity and distress, the logic of capitalism constantly encourages consumption, and even the government participates in this phenomenon. Korea is a nation that most quickly overcame the aftermath of the civil war, and guarantees liberty and equality based on democracy; however, I’d like to speak about the other side of this country as revealing immanent ongoing wars and how they have been consumed and propagandized. As standing on the 155 miles long boarder of this only divided nation, I hope to show the calamity caused by ideology conflicts and boundaries between remembrance and forgetfulness.