REMEMBER 10.29.2022
Personal Work | Individual Work
Remembrance
Year: 2022 Type: Sculpture
Souls, Be Free
On October 29th, the Saturday before Halloween, a large crowd gathered for a Halloween celebration in Itaewon, Seoul. A bottleneck formed in a narrow alley, and people became trapped. That night, 158 young people lost their lives. I was there.
I went for a walk toward Itaewon that evening and passed directly by the alley where the tragedy occurred. I saw people tightly packed inside, and others lying in a row along the street. Still, I did not fully understand what was happening until I returned home and watched the news.
For the first time in my life, I found myself very close to death and confronted the presence of it directly. At first, I felt relief, but I questioned whether that feeling was justified. Since then, an unfamiliar sense of guilt and lingering images from that night have returned to me unexpectedly. I went to the memorial altar, feeling that I needed to do something, yet even there I did not feel at ease.
I felt compelled to act. I wanted to do something that might help me process what I experienced, and more importantly, something that might reach those who were lost. I sincerely hope this work can serve, in some small way, as an act of remembrance—and as a gesture toward freeing their souls.
A Handful of Air — What They Desperately Needed
1. A Blocked FunnelJust like a blocked funnel, people were compressed and immobilized within a narrow alley.
2. An Upside-Down Funnel
By piercing and inverting the funnel, I imagined a release—a reversal where what was trapped could finally rise and disperse.
3. Classic Handheld Water Game
I needed a force to initiate uplift—an energy generated through direct action.
A childhood handheld water game came to mind, a device where pressure is applied manually to move trapped objects upward.
A childhood handheld water game came to mind, a device where pressure is applied manually to move trapped objects upward.
4. A Handful of Air
Taking the toy apart, I discovered small air chambers inside.
The game was driven not by water, but by air—the very thing that was desperately absent that night.
The game was driven not by water, but by air—the very thing that was desperately absent that night.
Pressing the button feels like an act of remembrance.
The slow rise of the colorful balls offers a quiet comfort.
Remembrance allows a society to hold compassion and acknowledge shared pain and collective grief.
The ability to recognize and respond to loss is essential to social cohesion.
Remembrance is also a means of correction. It confronts past failures so that they are not repeated.
The Itaewon disaster was a preventable, man-made tragedy. In Korea, similar accidents caused by inadequate safety systems have claimed countless lives over time.
Such a tragedy must never happen again.
Please remember October 29. 2022