[kiwa]
KIWA
2018
Concrete, Traditional Korean Roof Tiles
Antwerp, Belgium
A roof is seldom looked at.
It shelters, protects, and disappears into the architecture it serves. One remembers the room, the house, the inhabitants, yet rarely the roof itself. Its function is so complete that its presence becomes invisible.
Yet remove the house and the roof remains.
Remove the walls.
Remove the inhabitants.
Remove the purpose for which it was made.
Still, something survives.
Kiwa marks the beginning of Tae's investigation into the relationship between form and meaning. Drawing upon Ferdinand de Saussure's distinction between signifier and signified, the work asks what remains of an object once its function has been removed.
The starting point was the traditional Korean roof tile.
For centuries, the tile existed as a utilitarian object whose value derived from its capacity to shelter. Yet beneath this practical role resided another condition entirely. The roof possessed a form capable of communicating independently of its purpose.
Through extensive research into traditional Korean roofing methods and architectural history, Tae reconstructed the geometry of the roof using concrete. The material shifted. The context shifted. The function disappeared.
The roof no longer sheltered.
It enclosed no space.
It protected no body.
Yet viewers continued to recognise it.
The work therefore occupies an uncertain territory between architecture and sculpture, between memory and utility. Recognition persists despite the disappearance of function. Meaning survives despite displacement.
Kiwa became the first articulation of a question that would continue throughout the Sign and Significant series.
What remains of an object once its purpose has departed?
Inspired by the aesthetic structures of traditional Korean roofs, " [kiwa] " is a replica of those traditions interpreted in modern, industrial context. " [kiwa] " ; meaning roof tiles in Korean, symbolises both home and the heritage that comes with it. Although the sculpture is composed of industrial elements, the method in which to reproduce the tiles was deeply authentic. Each tile was gently sculpted by hand, giving every tile its unique character and when all put together it imbues the viewer with a sense of softness rather than the harshness of concrete.
material- concrete, wood
location- Universiteit Antwerpen, Campus Dire Eiken
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