Local Public Art Projects | Hongje Yuyeon(弘濟流緣), 2019

Hongje Yuyeon(弘濟流緣), 2019, 2019

Summary

Type
Local Public Art Projects
Year / Period
2019
Space
Eugene Shopping Center *On Display

50 years of dormancy under Yujin Shopping Center
Hongjecheon Waterway, a space that has been dormant for 50 years under Eugene Shopping Center

<The project is an annual public art project that promotes the installation of representative public art works that fit the local characteristics and historical context of 'only one' destination selected through an open call for submissions. Hongje Yoo Yeon is one of the 2019 regional public art projects, which excavated the lower 250-meter section of the structure supporting Yujin Shopping Street for the first time in 50 years and turned it into a waterway through which art flows. Yujinsangga is a space with a painful history of division and modernity, but through this project, the space that had been piled up in rubble for 50 years was filled with light art, media art, and sound art, making it a unique art space where people can reflect on history and enjoy artworks in the middle of the Hongjecheon River.

Local-scale public art projects allow citizens to have a different experience in everyday spaces that they pass by casually and transform unused spaces into special places, and Eugene Shopping Street was selected as the site for the 2019 local-scale public art project Hongje Yoo Yeon through various literature surveys and field research. <Hongje Yoo-yeon is an artistic attempt to open up the relationship between Yujinsangga, which is a cultural reference of the era, and Hongje Creek, which was cut off by the construction of Yujinsangga for military purposes in the 1970s, and the constant conflict between them in urban development. <Along with the theme of "the waterway through which art flows," Hongje Yoo-yeon selected the artists through a nomination method rather than an open call to express invisible life and nature, such as light, breath, sound, and temperature, while considering the spatial characteristics of the underground land crossed by 100 pillars.

<The nominated artists MUN, JIN Kijong, YOON Hyungmin, YOON Sanghoon, YOON Sanghoon, and Team Co-work installed various new media works, and some works were completed with the participation of citizen artists (students Hong Jeecho and Inwangcho, and messages from over 1,000 citizens). The artists' works include "Dudurukter (Duduruk: convex with a raised center)," which created a reception area; "Flowing Light, Narrative of Light," which illuminated Hongjecheon's space with images of light; "SunMoonMoonSun, Um..." which projected letters onto the surface of the water; and "SunMoonMoonSun, Um..." which was realized with 3D holographic technology.), sound art realized with 3D hologram technology, <Mise en Scène_Hongje Yeonga>, <Warmth> and <Breath>, which filled the artificial forest paths of Hongje Stream with light art, <Hongje Yuyeon Future Ecosystem>, in which 20 elementary school students participated, <Hongje ManichaHongje Manicha, a participatory program, and Hongje Yeoyeon Era, which was created with the help of art, recreated Hongje Stream, which flows beneath Yujin Shopping District, as a cultural space that restores the original spirit of the area and unites people, as well as a multisensory place to welcome the open era.

01 Planning

The Regional Public Art Project is a project that promotes the realization of representative public art works that fit the local characteristics and historical context of 'only one' target site selected through an annual public competition. The goal is to identify areas, facilities, and places where public art is essential, and to realize public art that reflects the characteristics of the target site, making it a place that citizens remember and frequently visit in their daily lives.

In 2019, a 250-meter section of the lower part of Hongjecheon Yujin Shopping Center, proposed by Seodaemun-gu Office, was selected as the target site. After an expert screening of nine candidates centered on suitability, topicality, and collaborative potential, it was judged to be the most experimental and expected to have a large ripple effect, thus meeting the purpose of the project. As the target site is the lower part of a historical building that has been disconnected for 50 years and is located near an ecological river, the project aims to create a waterside art spot using immaterial materials such as light, video, and illumination to minimize damage, and to create works and participatory programs using technology. The project, a collaboration between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seodaemun-gu, first improved the environment of the access roads inside and outside the promenade through the initiative of Seodaemun-gu, and then executed projects such as artwork contests and pre-program operations for about a year.

02 Process

Preliminary Area Research

Public art as placemaking enables citizens to have a different experience of place from the everyday spaces they pass by casually, and transforms unused and neglected spaces into special places. A multifaceted understanding of the area is essential in order to utilize everyday spaces without interfering with the lives of citizens, while at the same time providing new experiences in line with the changing times.

In 2019, various literature surveys and field surveys were conducted in Yujinsangga, the backdrop of Hongje Yuyun. Yujinsangga is located in the center of the Hongje living area in Seodaemun-gu, which has excellent ecological resources. The surrounding area is an aging neighborhood, and before the creation of the open Hongje Cheon-gil, the lower part of Yujin Shopping Street was cut off from pedestrians, with only about 100 local residents using the street per day. Yujinsangga, which has been maintained for 50 years without repair, suffering from a series of failed redevelopments and partial demolitions, was the first major shopping complex in Korea and was a representative landmark of Seodaemun-gu in the 1970s, but today it is recognized as an eyesore. When the Hongjecheon Promenade was built in 2019, an impressive landscape of more than 100 colonnades supporting Yujin Sangga across the Hongjecheon River was discovered in the space beneath the artificial ground. The space was created on the opposite side of the promenade, which had been inaccessible to people, and a bridge was built to connect the paths.

Developing the idea

In the case of Hongje Yuyun, the keyword 'connection' was used to transform the site into a place with a new cultural meaning: by connecting the new connection between Hongje Stream and Yujunga Shopping District through public art, the project hopes to encourage residents to utilize the site, increase the number of people entering the area, and mitigate the history of conflict. By creating a new 250-meter-long space under Yujin Shopping Street and implementing eight synaesthetic public art works using immaterial materials such as water, sound, light, color, movement, and technology, Hong emphasized the attitude of recording and sharing the invisible meanings and values of the site. At the same time, the project sought to imagine the future of natural life and technology in the urban ecosystem through the special environment of the Hongje Stream and buildings.

How the competition was organized

Under the theme of 'A Waterway Through Which Art Flows,' Hongje Yoo Yeon wanted to reconnect Hongje Stream, which had been disconnected for 50 years, and create a new beginning for the Yujinsangga shopping district located above it. While considering the spatial characteristics of the underground land, which was designed for military defense purposes and was crossed by 100 pillars that supported buildings and roads above ground, the exhibition invited artists to express invisible life and nature such as light, breath, sound, and temperature. Selected artists Mün, Jin Kijong, Yoon Hyungmin, Yoon Sanghoon, and Team Co-work installed various new media works, and some works were completed with the participation of citizen artists (students Hong Jeecho and Inwangcho, and messages from 1,000 citizens).

Implementation

Due to the nature of public spaces that are used by citizens all the time, considering the spatial specificity of the Noksapyeong Station Underground Art Garden and Hongje-Yu-Yeon installation process was as important and challenging as realizing a complete work in accordance with the planning intention. To this end, various regulations, deliberations, and special considerations such as safety were examined in advance to determine feasibility, the project was managed in a stable manner considering the appropriate execution budget and completion deadline, and measures were taken to minimize inconvenience to citizens during the installation period.

Layout of Hong's work

Hongje Yuyeon is a new name for the Hongje Stream, which has been flowing again for 50 years, and the art space in the basement of Yujin Shopping Center. It refers to a new cultural center where various exchanges are carried out with a 'flexible' attitude along with art, with the meaning of unity and harmony derived from 'yu' (flow) and 'kite' (connection).
Yujusangga is an early castellated complex built on an artificial site that reclaimed the Hongjecheon River during the modern urbanization of the 1970s, and was designed for military defense purposes, making it a cultural fodder of the era that shows the wartime tension of the divided country. Despite its early prominence, the building has been in a constant struggle for existence with the local community amidst rapidly changing urban development. From the Hongjecheon River, which was cut off by the construction of the Eugene Shopping Center, to the bad blood of the internal circulation road that cut off part of the building, only the scars of inconsiderate relationships remain.
By converting these tangled ties into artistic attempts, the artist seeks to open up the region. With 100 pillars supporting buildings and roads above ground and an underground land crossing the Hongjecheon, this particular landscape shows the possibility of a new transformation that leads to site-specific cultural art beyond the open waterway. As a prelude to this change, we propose public art to initiate an open public relationship that communicates with its surroundings through the flexible thinking of art.
This space is a passage between nature and the inside and outside of the city, where opposite landscapes intersect. It is an extraordinary experience of passing through everyday landscapes and traversing unfamiliar worlds such as the ruins of concrete civilization. These environments transport us to the unknown past and future, conveying the impression of a combination of time and space. As such, the art here embraces a wide range of themes, from stories of the past to future ecosystems that transcend time and space, and leads the role of public art in preserving the original form of the site and bringing the meaning of the place to an unfamiliar land. Furthermore, Hong's communicative work revisits the precious moments when invisible living substances such as light, breath, sound, and temperature, which start anew in the open ground, interact with nature. The emphasis on private time in public spaces is accompanied by the essential function of art, which is to help individuals, cities, and nature circulate and recover together. Aiming to become a cultural place that recovers the original spirit of the region and unites it with art, Hongje Performing Arts Center provides a multisensory venue to welcome the open era.