Pavel-to-DMZ Place 6. Art Center White Block
The green scenery was enveloping the white building with fogged-up windows, as if they were covered with fog. This is about Art Center White Block, which greets us under the blazing sun. Like the meaning in white paper, and white canvas, white is a color that becomes the basis for other colors. Like a white cubed space where artwork is hung. However, let’s take a step back. white cube must make a beautiful picture with the surrounding scenery. It looks like the White Block Art Center, which isn’t such a big building, nor is complicated, seems to go well with the surrounding on both the outside and the inside. Looking out the window at the scenery, sitting in the café on the 1st floor drinking dalgona milk tea, the warm sun shines in. White, which previously looked cool, suddenly starts to look warm.
The Art Center White Block often holds workshops on division, the divide, and the relationship between North and South Korea. Many people are getting tired of the topic of “the relationship between North and South Korea” as it progresses, stalls, and retreats repeatedly. However, as the ripple of water amounts to zero after going back and forth between plus and minus, the relationship between North and South Korea will reach an agreement eventually. I think that we are missing the big picture, being on the tide of change.
Artists try to think half a step ahead of people. Though their steps may end in pointless dreams, their ideas bring us out of the ripple of change and makes us see the matter in a different light, making this valuable and meaningful.
I will introduce Art Center White Block in Heyri Village as the sixth place of pavel-to-DMZ. I hope this will be an opportunity to view the DMZ, the division of Korea, and the world beyond in the light of artists living through the same era. Since White Block Art Center is run according to exhibits, I advise that you visit after looking at the schedule on the website.
72, Heyrimaeul-gil, Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea / Open 24/7 / https://whiteblock.org/
<Interview with Yubin Kim, the curator of the Art Center White Block>
Interview space : Art Center White Block / Interview start time : pm 2:03, 23 Aug 2020 / Age group : 30’s / a Country you feel like home : Germany
How do you describe yourself in this space?
Wind
This is a place with a lot of natural objects. I am doing work which requires moving like the wind.
How do you describe your everyday life in this space?
Balance
Due to my work, I have to meet a lot of people, and my work takes up a lot of my time. So, when I am not working, I try to spend static time alone in order to balance out my life.
How do you describe the character of this space?
Warmth.
Time seems to go more slowly in this place than in the middle of the city. Since the wall is made of glass, you can see the passing of nature and seasons, and get a feeling of warmth from it.
How do you describe the mood of this space?
Light and Nature
Light that comes in through the windows, and nature which changes through the seasons.
What type of people come to this space?
Since this is in Heyri, which is a bit distance from the center of the city, there are more people who are on their first visit, or come occasionally than people who come often.
How do you describe the DMZ?
Strangeness.
Like how the DMZ is not a place you can see around you, when you hear the word DMZ, you feel unfamiliar and think very differently from the thoughts you normally have.
We heard that you are working on the thesis about Art related to the divisions
Though it is not finished yet, this is a thesis about fellow artists who deal with art related to the division of Korea. We are working on researching and categorizing how millennial age artists look at the reality of the division of Korea, and how they express in visual art the different perspective from the past.
You used to live in the Germany
I was in Germany for about three years, and it is the first country where I lived by myself. Life in Germany greatly affected my perspective on the division of Korea. Living in Bayern, it was amazing that you can go over the border of Austria or Switzerland if you travel a bit by train. I was especially impressed by how a place which existed as East and West Germany has been integrated into one during my trip to Berlin.
Interview end time : pm 2:12, 23 Aug 2020
