home > Gwangju Design Biennale > Exhibition Structure
The five themes of ‘Clothing’, ‘Eating’, ’Living’, ‘Enlightening’ and ‘Enjoying’ form the basis of life and the basis of the Gwangju Design Biennale 2009. These themes are expressed with the Korean words of ‘옷[Ot]’, ‘맛[Mat]’, 집[Jip], 글[Geul] and 소리[Sori]'. By looking into each theme, international design examines and elaborates on Korean culture, thus proposing a ‘clue’ to the future of designing 'a state of absolute perfection' to international designers and artists.
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In addition to protecting the human body, clothing differentiates subculture and unifies popular culture. This theme studies elements of Korean clothing, from traditional costume, to haute couture, to garment as art object.
In an installation called 'The Designer's Studio', the space of work, creation and the future of Korean clothing design is seen as a conceptual blank slate amid traditional materials, designs and embroidery. In ‘A Rendezvous of Art and Design’, works by Korean artists and designers are juxtaposed. As an emotional exchange, viewers will search for clues about what authentic Korean designs connote. One authentic design, the Jeogori, is a uniquely tailored and proportioned Korean jacket. The restraints of its form, for example, the width of the neckband, color and shape, provide impetus for creative alteration in an exhibition of works generated by an international drawing competition that will be called ‘Jeogori Drawing’.
‘Dolls and Clothing’ will present Korean style dolls as a playful, self- reflexive model for clothing fantasy and ideals of Korean beauty. |
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We must eat to live, but the complexity of preparing food and eating reaches far beyond necessity. This theme casts light on design values in Korean culinary culture that improve taste, flavor and beauty while considering health and spirit.
In ‘Ceremonial Cooking: The Formal Table’, the process of recreating a formal table, Gobae-sang, will demonstrate how the most uniquely Korean item can paradoxically be the most global. Used for rare, celebratory occasions, the table illustrates the importance of composition and the senses in eating rituals. This table will stand next to the modern royal table setting of the west.
‘The Five Colors: 5 Spaces for 5 Colors’, shows how the five colors presented in a single dish of food have developed in the modern world. Obang-saek, the five colors in the ceremonial cooking of Korea are white, yellow, blue, red and black. They are based on harmony and collision ideologies of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. White, the source of all colors symbolizes time; yellow the most precious, includes fermented foods and cheese; blue symbolizes life and mental relaxation; red implies creation and the culinary identity of the Korean people; and black signifies change, perhaps in modern terms, the food industry. |
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As a physical environment, architecture is a spatial art created to facilitate aspects of human life. In the scope of design, living can also be regarded as creative work produced with the intention of employing appropriate materials and logical forms, for example, by utilizing natural elements such as light and wind.
The theme 'Living' will present clues for the understanding of the shapes, spaces and locations of Korean residential culture. Keeping in mind the Soswaewon, the representative garden of Korea, these places need not be geometrically constructed per se; they can be created by the fully organic faculty of nature.
The large display, ‘Global, One Earth, One Sun’, reconsiders the pre-formed habit of thinking within the limitations of one's country and one's village. A world map is portioned longitudinally and marked by monitors broadcasting 24 cities' real time imagery of light and shadow and the ways they change throughout the day.
A second project, ‘Reinterpretation of Organic Experience’ implements a Soswaewon garden for strolling and contemplation that terminates in 42 spaces of relaxation created by 42 artists from various backgrounds. After spectators find clues from organic experiences in the garden, the spaces of relaxation construct another conceptual garden for their enjoyment. |
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Through thinking, reading and developing ideas, human beings grow intellectually. Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, which actually is the first of its kind in the history of mankind, embodies humanist principles of universality, science, economy and originality. Furthermore, for Koreans, Hangeul’s shapes connote sounds and meanings.
Audio and visual materials will outline the design principles and historical development of Hangeul as a collaborative structure, in ‘Hunminjeongeum, the World Cultural Heritage’. Hangeul in every day life, will be documented by ‘The Present and Culture of Hangeul’, with the aim of showing the pragmatic as well as artistic roles Hangeul plays in present society. ‘Hangeul Design and Industry’ presents a morphology of Hangeul fonts and designs alongside the development of new technologies like mobile phones and keyboards. ‘Experiencing Hangeul’ offers an interactive experience to learn about Hangeul's unique qualities.
The outstanding design of Hangeul in shape, function, and level of difficulty reveal its role as an enlightening tool in design as well as use. Through the course of this theme, Hangeul will reveal itself as a global letter system that has intrinsic value for commercialization as well as potential for further development. |
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The traditional music of Korea tries to be an example of the necessity and possibility to ‘breathe harmony into contemporary society’. Enjoying and entertaining through sound, in spite of life's distresses, is a part of the holistic design of Korean culture.
The Sanjo is one of the distinct forms of music in the world with a clear directive to evolve over the course of one's lifespan. After completely mastering the tunes of the master, the disciple abandons the music learned and compiles his or her own Sanjo. The process of learning one's own unique Sanjo is a lifetime of work: before death, each performer completes only a single Sanjo. In the exhibition, ‘Juk-pa, The Distant Story of Sanjo’, the life of the master Juk-pa Kim Nan-cho, will be commemorated with documentary materials as well as with live performances inside of elegant traditional Korean houses.
Sounds' immateriality and ephemerality make it a sustainable substrate for design. The ‘Edison to Ipod’ exhibition will shed light on technological changes that have increased the range and enjoyment of sound, proposing various examples of sound application. ‘Room of Sound Industry, Sound Room’ promotes the understanding of sound to Creative Music, Film Music and Video Games by opening doors to these processes. |
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