Composition 59B(2016)

In the aftermath of the First World War, the growing urban population lacked resources and basic living necessities. The scarcity of material and well-designed goods encouraged Bauhaus architects and designers to focus on functional efficiency and to look for technological innovations in order to provide better living conditions and modern lifestyles for more people. In post - war Korea, functionalism and industrialism similarly helped fuel the nation's fast - growing economic development. Responding to the sudden increase in demand for urban housing, large apartment complexes grew based on standardized development models and modular theory proposed by Bauhaus designers and architects of the time. Since then, these vertical concrete structures have dominated most major Korean cities' landscapes, replacing the traditional housing, Hanok, which had sheltered countless generations of Koreans. Today most Koreans inhabit densely urbanized metropolis. Apartment floor plans now define the spatial notion and cultural configuration of Koreans' daily life. This abrupt evolution of the urban landscape has had a tremendous impact on Korean culture and society at large. Based on one of the most popular floor plans, Korean Composition 59A(2016) mirrors a typical modern Korean home available today and invites viewers to reflect on contemporary Korean living conditions and its social, historical and cultural references. The semi — abstract composition is hand — sewn using the patchwork quilting techniques of Jogakbo. It draws a parallel between the apartment floor plans, designed to take advantage of every space available; with the traditional craft of Jogakbo, developed to make creative use of scarce clothing material. The composition is symbolically organized using Korea's traditional Obangsaek colors – for example, bedrooms are rendered in blue, in association with renewal and rebirth; living room is in yellow, traditionally associated with spatial concept of center, soil, translated in the work as the equivalent of ‘Madang(courtyard)’ in Hanok – the quilts reconcile ‘modern’ and ‘Korean’ idea of domestic space.