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Maybe this is an attempt to see the impossible. Can we just observe the traces without distinguishing between left and right - or even neutrality; without analysing the causes or consequences, gains or losses?

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A white-washed wall, pristine yet intrinsically marked with the happenstance of time, opens the door for a myriad of interpretations and designs of the imagination. The hand of Park Seungmo reveals the progression of his meditations from ‘ego’ to actions of the mind. Gone are the immaculate wire-wrapped objects that unravelled the circular narrative of the search for self, and the echoes of existential ponderings of the wire mesh sheets for which he is recognised. Here, sheets of white paper embalm a massive scene, intrusive when viewed from one side and reclusive when viewed from the other. Immediately the mind embarks on its journey, starting with ‘what is it?’, while grappling with perceptions of truth and reality.

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Confronting the instinctive fictional imaginings of his own mind, Park’s Seon (Zen) Buddhist foundation and the Buddhist meditation practice of vipassana underpin this sculptural installation. Wandering around the ruins of the former Korean Worker’s Party Headquarters in Cheorwon, Gangwon-do, in the northernmost region of South Korea, Park captured images of the nation’s history as etched onto the walls of this building. A local branch of the Communist Worker’s Party, as the area was North Korean territory before the Korean War (1950-53), within its Soviet-style walls leaders kept an eye on the local population. Bones, bullets and barbed wire were discovered in a tunnel behind the office, likely the remains of those accused of anti-communist activities. The battles for the ‘iron triangle’ region in mid-1951 left it a burnt-out shell.