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YEONHEE-DONG RESIDENCY PROJECT
2007.07.07
The Yeonhee-dong Residency Project was an artistic collaboration between local and international artists that took place during June-July 2007 in Seoul. The project was curated by Jooyoung Lee and the exhibition was held at the Yeonhee-dong 195 gallery space. There were no strict rules or guidelines for the project and no real expectations for what the final artwork should look like. As a result, everything about the project morphed and evolved. Walls were painted and re-painted, work was constructed and de-constructed, and there were constant discussions about the merits and demerits of the ‘flat structure’ of the project. In the end, the project’s free-spirited energy attracted numerous visitors and participants and created an exciting forum for communication and exchange not usually found in the Seoul’s contemporary art scene.
Hours before the final event, thenativegaze had the opportunity to sit down with four of the invited European participants; Erlend Hammer, Bjorn Kowalski-Hansen, Jan Christensen, and Power Ekroth to discuss their experiences in Seoul. The following are excerpts from that conversation.
TNG: How has it been working with local artists? Have you been able to communicate?
Bjorn: Me and Sooho are a perfect example of that. He speaks very little English. He kind of nods and says yes and then yesterday I asked him how much he really understands and he said about 70%. That’s good enough I guess. Somehow we manage to do things together, which works great. He’s great to work with because he’s really independent and has no feeling of his work versus my work. He’s very open.
Jan: I think street artists and people who practice that kind of art are a little bit more collaborative. So far it seems like a lot of the local Korean artists are more protective of their work and have a certain practice that they don’t want to veer away from.
Power: Well, that’s not just Korean.
Jan: Right, I guess it’s more of a general thing about a lot of artists.
TNG: If I were collaborating with Korean artists, I think language alone would make things difficult.
Jan: I felt like a lot of the artists wanted to wait around and see what happened; as if something would happen while they were waiting. And of course it didn’t happen. Bjorn and I are the two practicing artists out of the four of us. Power and Erlend are both writers and are really just here to meet people and observe. They are here to see and watch.