BURNING WITH DESIRE FOR SEOUL
title. Burning with Desire for Seoul, a city guide
published in. Desired Landscapes, Issue No 5, ed. Natassa Pappa
date. January 2019 , text written for the online magazine Philosophy of Performance
graphic design. Natassa Pappa & Kristin Papadantonaki, Desired Landscapes, Athens
photography. Giorgos Vitsaropoulos, Athens
fonts. Jun Ki Hong (jun.works)
city. Athens / Zürich
type. text / article / research / mapping / publication
Blackboard Sketches / Map of Seoul / City Guide Stations
I am not sure how it started. Probably took the usual ways: subtle little moments that i give attention to something; then these moments become more frequent, so that i finally admit it. And then, comes desire and settles within you. The more you see the more you wanna have, taste it and make it yours. The more distant it seems, the closest you want to get to it. Fantasy dances with curiosity; increasing thirst.
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It all started with a bunch of captivating films, that gave way to more, and then more… Till i discovered a whole universe, seeming to fit my mindset so well, that i started listening to their music, learn their language, reading their literature, taste their food. I embraced a culture, which i know it’s not mine; but it feels somehow familiar and accessible. Then comes the question: why and how? Why do millions of people all over the world suddenly surrender to the Korean Wave? What are the strategies for a culture to export itself in such a way and to such an extend? What makes this culture desirable and at the same time accessible?
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From this moment on, desire itself became the subject. Desire as an autonomous body, or as Deleuze/Guatarri would formulate: a machine. „Desire does not lack anything, it does not lack an object; it rather is a machine that produces reality“. The Korean entertainment industry seems to be fully aware of this reality and is mastering the machine. Τhe concept of desire runs through the text and formulates one of the main parameters of my research, the others being: film induced tourism, Korean culture and the films together with the locations themselves. Those four parameters created a matrix upon which the text was build.
various images from Google Maps / Streetviews
Films: Misaeng by Kim Won-seok // Pietà by Kim Ki-duk // Burning by Lee Chang-dong
Insta-Selfies at the Locations of Film Parasite by Bong Joon Ho
Writing for the 5th issue of Desired Landscapes marked for me an official comeback to the text. I have already gave on this account glimpses on my writings, but i almost forgot that actually publishing a text is so rewarding. The various and unexpectedly interesting feedback from the readers, motivates me for more. Having already discovered so much about the Korean entertainment industry and about Seoul as a city, this really feels like setting the base for further work. On the way i also discovered many collectives that tangle critical current issues in Seoul, such as the problem of gentrification, the danger of eradication of cultural goods for the sake of globalization or the evolving housing policies. Keeping all this in mind, i will try to go deeper. Could this be the beginning of some beautiful encounters and collaborations?
Here i am sharing some sneak pics into the background of the work, which included readings, multiple brainstormings and mappings. It almost required a stalker-like method, following up web-linked traces of movie locations, going back and forth in googlemaps so as to identify buildings and addresses. A digital tourist experience which i totally enjoyed.
