Suburb 2021
A suburb, in the geographical term, is defined as ‘urban and rural junction area’ between the city and village. Depending on the accessibility to the city, it is divided into the area near the city and the area near the village, and ‘the transitional zone’ that encompasses the suburbs is an area where the boundaries of the surrounding areas overlap with each other. This ‘transitional zone’ as a sociological or geographical structure is important to judge the value of the area through such standards like the possibility of proximity to a city, relatedness, and population characteristics. From a different point of view, it means that a new culture or landscape can be emerged by overlapping and mixing different cultures or features. I have been living in a suburb since 2013 and have experienced the fluidity of this area. Suburbs, which we call outskirts, are densely populated with facilities and industrial corporations that have been pushed out of the city, and around them, there are empty spaces that have been neglected for a long time. The transitional zones that are formed in these aspects are, in other words, ‘leftover zones’. It is gradually pushed out of city and the transitional zone is widely formed, and finally, it is eventually filled with the desire to pursue the city. Therefore, this scene is very transitional, temporary, and inconsistent where the movement is frequent. This tendency is more like a feeling of incompleteness and anonymity. The unsettled landscape in the outskirts that I first experienced was a temporary place with a chaotic atmosphere. This provisional nature of the scene was the incomplete landscape that was not clearly defined as a certain figure. This area seems to be consumed constantly around the city. Perhaps, the word, ‘floating landscape’ can most clearly describe the suburb which is the outskirt or the transitional zone(leftover zone). I see the unstable scenes created by the overlapping of unfamiliar layers. The unstable landscape which is composed of the undefined scenes(layers) inspires me at the most. This rough landscape of the outskirts is rediscovered as a dramatic scene by a specific intervention of a certain situation or a specific time. When I experience the ‘identity’ that is revealed in a fleeting moment from the landscapes of ruins at the place of a boundary, I feel awe more than any other scene. This suburb, which is the periphery and left out from the value of the landscape, is a place where subtle vibration and anxiety are condensed, and at the same time, it is my place connected by painting.
- from (Artist’s Statement) by Gyungsu An