The Beauty of a House

Following the red pattern acrosss the flying white cloth at the entrance of the pavilion, a very strange living room welcomes visitors. A high-rise space that cannot be recognised from outside the gallery unfolds, and the furniture and dresses with colourful patterns catch visitors’ eyes. The red pattern that fills the entire living room is a reinterpretation of the flowers, butterflies and birds in the Ten-panel Folding Screen (hojeobdo). All the textiles used in the exhibition are based on the microscopic elements of the Joseon Dynasty’s paintings, and they are patterned images drawn by modern drawing techniques.

If you sit on the floor and turn your head to the side, you will see another scene of several layers. The dining room is finished in pure white, highlighting the blue patterns carved in porcelain and the dining table of the wavy surface. The fluid art image reproduced through the media furniture reminds us of the water space flowing smoothly on the ceiling of the atrium. As you enter the bedroom, the bright interior becomes darker. A bird pattern of the Ten-panel Folding Screen (hwajoyeongmodo) is embroidered on the shadowed fabric. Beyond the dark space, a pebbled yard and the distant view of the powder room are dimly visible. The powder room displays a large round mirror and a cosmetic case carefully crafted by the Chilbo art master.

The curator of the exhibition, Park Sungjin (Director, Site & Page) explained the essential ambiguity that penetrates the exhibition; ‘The title of this Sulwhasoo Culture Exhibition, Micro-Sense, literally means the delicate sense for and apprehension of craft, but it also means the state between the microscopic and deja vu’. One can find overlapping elements that are familiar and unfamiliar but seem to have already been experienced in various other places. The spatial structure of traditional Korean dwellings, as well as the flow of the exhibition, was built under the gable roof of Western architecture, and the white exhibition pavilion designed by Kim Leehong (Principal, Leehong Kim Architects) seems to be contrasted with AMOREPACIFIC’s office building with concrete properties while it is in harmony with the scale.