A Little Idea of Seoul People – Bear Lee's portfolio

The Little Ideas of Seoul People

a travelling exhibition in a shipping container
solo exhibition sponsored by Seoul Metropolitan Government / 12/24 – 12/31/2008 /
a galley size / h 2.3 x w 6.5x h 2.5 m
a cargo container, interior materials, an electricity generator
each work size / refer to the description
mixed media

Purpose: To console the lonely and marginalized in Korean society post-IMF economic crisis
Sponsorship: Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture
Locations: Seoul City Hall, Hongik University Station, National Assembly Building in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo Mart
Visitors: Over 4,500 in one week

The Little Ideas of Seoul People” was my solo exhibition aimed at comforting those affected by the IMF economic crisis in Korea. The artworks idealistically portrayed the everyday happiness people deserved, addressing the emotional and relational hardships they faced. I created a mobile exhibition hall to reach high-traffic areas in Seoul, allowing broad access to the exhibition. The event attracted over 4,500 visitors in a week and provided mutual comfort between the audience and me.

Locations

Exhibition locations
12/24 – 25 in front of Hongik University
12/26 – 28 in front of Yeongdeungpo Lotte Mart
12/29 – 30 at the City Hall Squareexhibition locations
12/26 – 28 in front of Yeongdeungpo Lotte Mart

1. Pieta

2007 / h 600 x 300 x 300 mm / marble

The Pooh Pieta depicts happy memories of being embraced by family and bathed in light during childhood. At the same time, it also portrays a blissful past that cannot be regained.

2. The Dream Supper

2008 / h 300 x 400 x 150 mm / mixed media

This work portrays the countless divorced families that appeared all over Korea as an aftermath of the economic crisis. The character presented as ‘Pooh’ is observing this situation with a first-person perspective. A family dinner we used to take for granted, for some people, has become an impossible thing, a dream supper.

3. A Korean Ordinary Cart Bar

This cart bar run by Pooh is a typical Korean spot to meet old friends. In this bar, the white-collar worker is too tired to listen to his blue-collar friend, who has much to say despite his friend’s indifference. Both seek solace in alcohol but remain weary. Pooh comforts these fatigued individuals

4-1. The Crucifixion of Pooh

2008 / h 400 x 600 x 180 mm / rigid urethane, wood, three nails

The Crucifixion of Pooh was made with this thought in mind – what’s left for the many who overcome adversity with the sacrifice of a single self or somebody else.

4-2. The Crucifixion of Pooh

2006 / h 2750 x 1350 x 4500 mm / fiber reinforced plastic, wood, three large nails

5. Statue of Pooh

2003 / h 800 x 600 x 450 mm / plaster

The Statue of Pooh was made with this thought in mind – what benefits are given to the many when one person becomes a generous being.

6. Papa Smurf

2008 / h 380 x 450 x 550 mm / urethane, mixed media

Representation of our father, a household’s absolute leader, who always sits in front of the TV after work.

7. Don’t Cry Father

2006 / h 3000 x 3200 x 2000 mm / fiber reinforced plastic, oil paint

8-1. Dream of the Middle-aged Man in a Sauna

2006 / h 3000 x 3200 x 2000 mm / fiber reinforced plastic, oil paint A smaller figure of a man with these sons in a sauna was exhibited facing the larger solitary middle-aged man figure. This work provided a space where the visitor could take pictures, sitting next to this large man, while the figure overlooked the vision of his dream.

8-2. Middle-aged Man with his sons in the sauna in Dream

2006 / h 120 x 250 x 280 mm / Urethane

9. The French Revolution

2006 / h 3000 x 3200 x 2000 mm / rigid urethane, lacquer

I told a story of men commonly found in construction sites in a 4-panel cartoon style. They are always talking about societal issues but uninterested in the stories of others, daily life is more important to them. Asides from the single figure who discusses the societal issues, all of the other figures are eating American food and drinking beer. In their hearts, they have an instinctive passion for their society, but they are incapable of expressing this. The figures are named Danton, Pierre, Benoit, Antoine, Frederic. Their names are like those of the French revolutionaries that lead the French Revolution.

10. A Resurrected Pooh

2008 / h 2200 x 1100 x 750 mm / performance

Through this work, the visitors met a resurrected Pooh. This work gave them a chance to meet a martyr, a provider of a place of rest in real life.

In Retrospect…

I faced a lot of administrative difficulties trying to put together this exhibition; spaces were booked and cancelled a week before the show, the truck transporting the shipping container could not move during weekdays, and certain places did not allow trucks to enter in the first place – al of this in 15 degrees subzero weather. Despite this, I successfully moved the exhibition around to different spots with the largest floating population. Over 4,500 visitors came to the exhibition, and I received a lot of helping hands. I could not spend the holiday season with my family from having to guard the exhibition, but seeing the families enjoy my works and couples warming themselves in the exhibition space gave me solace. I was met with warmth from a lot of people, but I remember one particular encounter with a grandmother who came to the exhibition in Yeongdeungpo. She held my hands tightly and asked me to ‘keep making exhibitions for the working class,’ and it made me want to continue making work that brings itself to the public.