A project to discover emerging designers
Through August 15 at DDP Baeumteo
The sound of twigs snapping, insects chirping, leaves rustling in the wind… these are the sounds you hear upon entering the <The Quietest House> exhibition. The exhibition hall is filled with images, movements, and sounds drawn from nature.
The <The Quietest House> exhibition runs through August 15 in the Archive on the 3rd floor of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (CEO Lee Kyung-don, hereinafter DDP) Baeumteo building. The exhibition grew out of the idea that the coronavirus experienced over the past two years or so is nature's final warning to humanity, prompting a search for an environment in which we can live in harmony with nature.
Drawing inspiration from a certain gwitteuljip (log cabin) in Muju, the exhibition set out to find the points of connection that allow nature and our daily lives to endure together. Its theme is “A Four-Line Gwitteuljip Blended into Nature.” In keeping with the theme, stepping into the exhibition hall creates the illusion of having entered the interior of a gwitteuljip. Every corner of the hall is filled with video and sound so that visitors can immerse themselves in nature. A gwitteuljip is a house whose walls are built by stacking logs about 15 cm in diameter in the shape of the Chinese character for “well” (井).
To express a life in which nature, the city, and people coexist, the exhibition transforms the DDP exhibition hall—located in the heart of the city—into a nature-friendly space. The gwitteuljip space, a symbol of nature, offers visitors a natural environment that is at once familiar and new.
Through the displayed video and sound, visitors share in the nature that the exhibition's organizing artists experienced at the Muju gwitteuljip. For city dwellers whose daily lives are overwhelmed by the countless contents of modern society, hard to take in by sight and sound alone, the exhibition offers a brief respite through so-called “fire-gazing,” “plant-gazing,” and “water-gazing.”
This is the 22nd Open Curating exhibition. Since 2015, the Seoul Design Foundation has run the Open Curating exhibition project to discover and introduce emerging exhibition planners and designers.
Each year, the Open Curating exhibition selects the exhibition planners who will participate through an open call at the beginning of the year. Planners chosen through the review process are provided with exhibition space and part of the program operating costs, along with promotional support through the DDP website and social media. Admission to the exhibition is free.