SPACE March 2026 (No. 700)
Exhibition view of ’Two Maps: capture and draw’ ©Choi Yongjoon
The two-person exhibition ‘Two Maps: capture and draw’ by photography artists Choi Yongjoon and Choi Jiwon, who work on architecture and the urban as guiding themes, was on show at Seongsu LCDC SEOUL between Jan. 15 to Feb. 3 In this exhibition, the two artists explored new ways of reading the city through the medium of photography.
The asymmetrical scaffolding structure that immediately captures one’s attention upon entering the exhibition space was designed to evoke the sensation of moving through the city and discovering new scenery. Within the scaffolding structure, Choi Yongjoon’s photographs could be found scattered throughout. After using 3D maps to virtually explore the city and collect its constitutive elements, Choi Yongjoon then reassembled the scenes he had captured later on-site and placed them atop the structure. Cityscapes, roads, and signs no longer existed as discrete images but were repurposed as symbols on a map. The intention was to give visitors an experience of a journey that crosses between different cities and scenes as they were led through the structure.
Meanwhile, Choi Jiwon sought to observe the city from the viewer’s perspective, collecting and reconstructing the scenes that linger like afterimages. To this end, Choi Jiwon reconstructed the urban images she had captured through post-processing techniques evocative of texture mapping, including colour inversion and vignetting. Her work, which consists of constructing images that reflect the viewer’s gaze and imagination instead of merely recording objects in their literal form, was most exemplified in her Sending a Signal (2024) where she highlighted the lines of buildings. The cityscape within the image became detached from real-world scenes, opening a new dimension beyond reality.
