Exhibition date Oct 7 ~ 11, 2020
Location Design Korea^↗
Invited Prof. Hwang Kim

K-Designers, Design Korea 2020/ Image courtesy of © DK Festival 2020

K-Designers, Design Korea 2020/ Image courtesy of © DK Festival 2020

CCTV Chandelier

‘CCTV Chandelier: Virtual Doppelganger Simulator’ is an interactive installation that allows users to see themselves from a third-person perspective. 12 CCTV cameras mounted around the head capture the user’s facial image from various angles, transmitting the footage to the monitor in real time. This wearable and portable visual device can record itself and its surroundings while on the move. In the end, the user and those who experience the simulation become one object and are displayed in the gallery.

Guy Debord, author of 『Society of the Spectacle』, used a method of psychogeography. Using this method, Debord tried to deconstruct the map of Paris and then to make a psychological record of the city’s geography. Psychogeography is not a map-making method that depends on topographical and objective techniques, but rather a purposeless walk around the city and recording the sensory facts of a specific place. Debord creates emotional shock by drifting or borrowing and recombining existing texts or images. Then, he interprets the hidden value in the spacetime of the present. Psychogeography is a new geographical attempt with a circumstantial context. ‘CCTV Chandelier’ is a tool for creating psychogeography.

Cocoon – Portable urban shelter for the homeless

The Cocoon is a covering used in a phase of stopped growth by a larva of moths or other insects. Outwardly, it seems to take a rest, but actually, its tissues and organs continue to mature. One of the wonders of nature is a beautiful butterfly coming into being out of the dark and narrow cocoon. The phenomenon is frequently used as a metaphor, leaving a strong impression on us, to describe that there is hope at the end of despair.

The homeless issue has been a long-standing problem of our civilization, which remains unresolved yet. Though its image seems to be heavy and dark, I tried to replace it with a symbol of hope.

‘The Cocoon – Portable urban shelter for a homeless’ is a cardboard bed designed to provide a private shelter for the homeless. It aims to provide a little pleasure whilst facing the harsh conditions of homeless life. The lightweight cardboard construction makes it easy to carry and fold into its 3-dimensional bed form.

I wish the homeless come back to communities as wonderfully as the larva’s transformation into a butterfly, and become another good member who adds to the richness. I’m to dedicate this sculpture of a cocoon to them as a small present.