Research

Beyond Objects

Intangible Connections in Everyday Life

The road through which one enters, when visiting a city or a new location for the first time, is the channel that leads to many more paths. And as the number of paths intertwine and accumulate, one starts to identify connections or disruptions, smooth roads and rugged ones, endless ways or dead-ends. In this undefined geography, an experience occurs.

In late July 2019, a field research itinerary started to take shape through preliminary research in Paris, thousands of kilometers away from Korea. With the help of my young Korean assistant based in Seoul, we slowly gathered a list of craft-related contents and locations to research during a short road trip.

The idea was to trust the dynamic of chance encounters where one person would lead to the next one in an organic manner. As a result, many kind-hearted people shared their knowledge, stories and contacts during our field research. At other times, there were broken links, which were also valuable to consider as they revealed some of the core challenges and emergencies in the region.