The Way is inter-opened Alley_The Logic and Experience of Space
This event was a public program of the 10th Seoul Mediacity Biennale Eu Zên—a walking tour performance through Samcheong-dong and Ikseon-dong areas of Seoul, guided by Jungtae Eun, Director of the Bukchon Cultural Center.
Jungtae Eun is a historian and the current director of the Bukchon Cultural Center. He is a PhD candidate of Korean History at Seoul National University. Eun has conducted a project that involves unique historical visits of Seoul and field-work in the alleys and villages of Bukchon, Seoul to reveal the fabric of Seoul’s web of micro histories and the patterns of a history experienced by human beings. Selected publications are The Korean History in Dispute: the Modern Era (co-authored, 2017), The Mutual Strategies of Korea, China, and Japan during the Sino-Japanese War (co-authored, 2009), The Authors of Bestsellers (co-authored, 2007), “The Facts Reflected on Memories: The Fragrant Facts” (2000), “The ‘Gando region problem’ of the Daehan Empire period and the issue of ‘Colonization’” (2007) and “The Qing dynasty government’s view of Korea after the 1905 Convention” (2007).
Through the work The Way is inter-opened Alley_The Logic and Experience of Space, Jungtae Eun attempts to read the old streets of Seoul, including those of Bukchon, which have transformed into places with new forms. Walking along the winding road covered with new streets, he reveals the old addresses and stories of the sites, attempting to open up a (old but new) road on the (present) road. Considering people’s participatory experiences of the site, he let the audiences walk into the specific stories of the places created by diverse groups of human beings and express their own thoughts about the historical incidents. Eun speaks of the “triangular relationship among history, desire, and destiny” with a unique, “enticing way of talking” and unconscious gestures. This work re-presents the layers of history through “virtualized stories” and unravels the indescribable reality of the present.
