
Park Chan-Kyong
Child Soldier, 2017-2018
Photo in light box
32.68 x 22.05 x 2.76 inches
83 x 56 x 7 cm
83 x 56 x 7 cm
Edition of 5 plus 2 AP
'Does a North Korea exist beyond politics and the military? Is there such a thing as an image of North Korea that bears no relation to ideology, politics, or war?...
"Does a North Korea exist beyond politics and the military? Is there such a thing as an image of North Korea that bears no relation to ideology, politics, or war? In a strict Cold War society, everything in the enemy state becomes taboo: typical daily life, nature, acts of laziness, innocent decisions. The image of People's Army soldiers being gentle and young is something unimaginable for South Koreans--just as North Koreans could never accept the image of a gentle and young American soldier.
If inter-Korean relations exist within a context of surplus authority and benefit-loss calculations by major groups, then purely everyday actions, lazy and innocent, by individuals living from day to day in the enemy state become unimaginable 'stories.' A young boy dressed as a People's Army soldier wanders in the woods without purpose or thought. He listens to the radio. He reads and sings. He has nothing in particular to do. With this work, I tried to create the 'weakest' possible image for North Korea. Ultimately, an image so weak that it could not possibly be political ends up becoming an image that is politically 'subversive.'"– Park Chan-Kyong
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