Art Sonje Center is to present the Architecture Film Screening of artist Hyun-Suk Seo for the duration of two weeks, from 31 August to 13 September in the Art Hall. This program which consists of two parts, sheds light on two architects who greatly contributed to shaping their nation, Tange Kenzo (Japan), and Kim Jong Hui (North Korea), and features on Seun Sangga, the first residential and commercial complex built in Korea, created under the Park Chung-hee administration. Professor Changmo Ahn who co-planned the films The Lost Voyage and One Dream featured in Part 1, will give a talk titled, The Utopia of Seoul on the 31st of August, marking the opening of the screening, and artist Hyun-Suk Seo will give a talk titled The Heterotopia of Seoul on the 7th of September, giving way to Part 2.

Hyun-Suk Seo – Architecture Film Screening Part 1 (31 August – 6 September)

● Talk: Changmo Ahn – The Utopia of Seoul (31 August, 4:30 pm)
Seun Sangga was built during the modernization of the Republic of Korea amidst the chaos of the Asia-Pacific and Korean Wars. Professor Changmo Ahn will give an overview of the historical context of Seun Sangga, created under the influence of architectural, and national modernism.

● Screening
The Lost Voyage
Hyun-Suk Seo, Changmo Ahn, 2012-17, 45min
Planned by Minsuk Cho, Produced by Changmo Ahn
Seun Sangga is Korea’s first ever residential and commercial complex, and uber-luxurious megastructure constructed under the Park Chung-hee administration. The ideals behind the building, and its decline from
prominence is reviewed in this film. First introduced at the 2012 Gwangju Design Biennale, the work has changed alongside Seun Sangga, and the latest version is screened.

One Dream
Hyun-Suk Seo, Changmo Ahn, 2014-17, 35mins
Curated by Minsuk Cho, Produced by Changmo Ahn
When Pyongyang became a pile of rubble after the war, architect Kim Jong Hui combines the socialist ideal with the modernist architecture of the West to build a city no man could ever imagine. The dreams and reality of a city that is so close to Seoul, yet far away is highlighted in this film. The latest updated version after its feature in the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale is screened.

Hyun-Suk Seo – Architecture Film Screening Part 2 (7 – 13 September)

● Talk: Hyun-Suk Seo – The Heterotopia of Seoul (7 September, 4 pm)
The process of rebuilding the national identities of many countries after the 2nd World War, and the role of modernist architecture is reviewed through various case studies from Korea, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Japan.

● Screening
Tange Kenzo
Hyun-Suk Seo, 2017, 45mins
Curated by Sunjung Kim, Asia Culture Institute
Tange Kenzo’s role was paramount in transforming the belligerent Imperial Japan to a Democracy. The products and legacies of an architect who most successfully combined western modernism and Asian tradition is reviewed, leading up to Japan hosting its second Olympic games.

About the Speakers

Hyun-Suk Seo
Hyun-Suk Seo, who studied video art, and film theory is currently carrying out research on film, is a performer and video artist. A stage productions called Fat Show (2009),ㅣㅣㅣㅣㅁ (2010), Stage Fright (2013) are the results of exploring the conditions of empathy through the site specificity of the theater. Viewer participation site specific performance pieces: Heterotopia (around Seun Sangga, 2010), The Divine Prostitution of the Soul (Yeongdeungpo, 2011), Heterochrony (Seoul Station, 2012), Desire Paths (Nam June Paik Art Center, 2011), Peep Show (2011), Resolutely Autumn Wind (Yokohama, 2013), From the Sea (Tokyo, 2014), and his solo show called Installation and Performance (Project Space Sarubia, 2012) recomposes the relationship between the viewer’s space and the performer. Seo also produced a film project on architecture, by layering filmographic imagination onto photographic records of Minsuk Cho’s architectural works called Zoom out / Zone out (2013-14), while also creating a documentary series that expose the Asian architects who greatly contributed to rebuilding their countries such as Vann Molyvann of Cambodia, Tange Kenzo of Japan, and Geoffrey Bawa of Sri Lanka. Seo’s publications include Great Golden Bat/ Frightening Funny Specter Human (2010), Theresa Hak-kyung Cha Art Theory (co-author, 2013), Future Art (2016), and is the co-editor of a non-periodical called Ob.Scene which explores multi-disciplinary art using multiple disciplines.
Changmo Ahn
Changmo Ahn graduated from Seoul National University in February 1985 with a degree in architecture, and received his architect license in 1990. He continued his study of modern Korean architecture at the graduate level, receiving his master’s degree in 1993 with his thesis on “The Study on the Transformation of Korean Architecture Before and After the Korean War.”, and his doctorate in 1997 with his dissertation titled ‘A Study on Architect Park Dongzin.” both at Seoul National University. He has served as a visiting scholar at Columbia University in 1998 and University of Tokyo in 2009, and is currently a professor of architectural design at Kyonggi University. As head of the Historic Preservation Program at Kyonggi University, his main research is focused on the history of Korea’s modern architecture. His research topics focus on exploring the history of architecture from the perspective of a social historian and an engineer.
His publications include 50 Years of Korean modern Architecture (1996), Deoksugung Palace_Stands at the Center of the Empire Embracing the Fate of the Time (2009), Architectural and Cultural Guide Pyongyang (2012, co-authored) and Guide to Seoul Architecture (2013, co-authored). Currently he is participating in research projects titled “Masterplan on the Management of a Historical City, Seoul” and “Plan on Restoring and Utilizing Modern Cultural Heritage.” In addition, he is the Chair of DOCOMOMO Korea and Vice Chair of the Korea Association of Architectural History and a member of Cultural Heritage Committe of Cultural Heritage Administration. He received Golden Lion Award in 2014 Venice Architecture Biennalle as a co-curator of Korean Pavilion, which was for architecture and urbanism of Seoul & Pyongyang.

Reservation for the program