I Got a letter from <Around, Around, Notes>(2022) about someone's unrequited love. After reading this, I began to develop an interest in the concept of “love”.
What is love? Why do we love? For what?
It was taken for granted, so I began to ask questions about "love" that I had never thought of.
In 2023, I wanted to discuss the concept of love that was invisible at the time.
I believed that the most complete way to convey 'love' was through a letter that contained someone's heartfelt emotions. Since I was young, I often had conflicts with my family due to our 'dialect'. The way we spoke often distorted the true meaning of our words. During those times, my family and I would write letters to each other to reconcile. From a young age, I truly believed that writing was the most effective means of fully conveying one's feelings.
After sharing my honest experiences and love with others, I had a realization. The more I became honest, the more people felt comfortable sharing their own personal experiences. Through art, I began to hear people's personal narratives and stories. This led me to a new goal, 'I want to pursue direct communication'. Starting with a letter about someone’s unrequited love, I decided to plan to reach out and communicate with people who hadn't visited white cube.
In the picture, someone wrote on the street : "사랑은 시간을 함께 보내는 것이죠."
Like the message in the picture, some people say "love" is about spending time together. However, some others view "love" logically, while some think of it as feeling or an emotion. Some people might not define it at all. I know, because concept of love is complicated.
I suddenly started to wonder what love other people think. Why can't we live without love. Additionally, I wanted to know about my love and think about it through other people's perspective.
My first experiment was to be loved by strangers. I thought 'whispering' and 'hugging' were the least amount of love I could do with strangers. On the other hand, these were also the forms of love I wanted to receive.
On Children's Day, when there was heavy rain, I spent the day in Gwanghwamun, where many children might be. At night, I went to Itaewon, a place where adults are more likely to be.
On Children's Day, when there was heavy rain, I spent the day in Gwanghwamun, where many children might be. At night, I went to Itaewon, a place where adults are more likely to be.
The text reflects my thoughts and feelings about this experiment :
May 5, 2024, In contrast, it was like this.
Gwanghwamun, the outside was filled with protests, people, and the sound of rain. Inside the box, it was quiet. My head felt like it was ringing, like a speaker full of water was turned on. I could only faintly hear voices when people hugged me. When people weren’t hugging me, I felt like I was in a completely different space.
When I think of Children's Day, the first place that comes to mind is Cheonggyecheon(Jongno-gu). When I was young, I came to Seoul every week because of my parents' work, and I remember my aunt taking me there every day. Although I don’t have direct memories of that time, it has left a strong symbolic impression in my mind. I recall being told that "From this year, you are not a child so there would be no more Children’s Day celebrations." I don’t remember exactly how old I was, but every year on Children’s Day, my parents would always call me. Perhaps this project feels like revisiting my early childhood, a time when I was loved and welcomed everywhere. When I told my mom about this project, she was quite sad. (...more)
My second experiment was giving out cakes to strangers on my birthday. On my birthday, being in a position to receive congratulations from everyone, I wanted to practice the cycle of love by sharing my handmade-birthday-cake with people.
In the picture, in order from left : drinks, tumbler, dried flower.
I made a cake to give love, but I got a lot of congratulations. The picture shows gifts from some people. It felt like the three cakes I made came back to me as three different forms of love. In fact, giving "cakes" on one's birthday to strangers is a suspicious behavior, but people didn't think so and were willing to receive and celebrate.
The text below reflects my feelings after sharing the cake :
June 7, 2024, Even though the project started with the intention of giving love, it ended up bringing love back to me. (...more)
As a result, I was able to listen to the intentions and conversations of the people a little more than the first experiment. But I thought it would be better to hear more in-depth stories from other people.
As the second experiment finished, I was able to listen to the intentions and conversations of the people a little more than the first experiment. But I thought it would be better to hear more in-depth stories from other people.
So, I decided to leave handwritten letters with questions about "love" at about 40 locations throughout Seoul. The name of this project is <Waiting for replies to letter 40>.
To You, Who is Reading This,
The reason I am writing to you is because I wanted to share our thoughts on love. Then, I am sending you this letter with a heart that eagerly awaits your response. (...more)
The first and last email I received was on Sat, Jul 13, at 2:52 AM. The content cannot be shared publicly, but it was a hateful letter comparing love to the seasons. I haven't been able to send a reply yet. Because, I want to wait for more responses and take my time to think things through.
As of August 28, 2024, I have revisited the places I had kept the letters in various spots around Seoul, but they are all gone. It might be best to wait a little longer for a reply.
