Requiem

THREE IN THE MORNING

To anyone entering a Korean house – whether it’s a restaurant, temple or a private home – being greeted by scattered shoes is hardly a surprise. These shoes signal a threshold between exterior and interior space – a threshold its owners have crossed.Thus, Sung’s arrangement in the entrance hall of the Busan Museum of Art has a familiar look about it. And yet, the shoes are worn out; they are worker’s heavy boots, decorated with the colorful paper flowers so often used in mourning ceremonies or in popular festivals like the Madang Nori, for example.The decorations emerged from a collaboration between the artist and workers at Hanjin Heavy Industries Yeongdo shipyard in Busan.

The oldest shipyard in Korea, it dates back to 1937. Massive layoffs led to month-long strikes in 2011. One particularly memorable example was Kim Jin-Suk’s 225-day occupation of a giant crane – yet another risky political performance by a single individual in Korea’s recent history.Sung met with the workers, asked them to contribute their shoes, and organized the collective flower-making. Naturally, sitting together in a big group inspired all kinds of chat. Stories were revealed and shared; tales told that were sad, bitter or funny. Though not immediately accessible to the viewer, those stories are an integral part of the work. They convey a spirit.