The Sixth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

110 making art it is important not to think directly and I wanted to show the feeling of the workers heading to their jobs in winter time. The feeling of comradeship, morning, winter . . . I created my own perspective, viewed from above. I wanted to exaggerate the feeling of a river of people. Often when ink artists draw winter scenes they use shell powder to place on top of the paper before painting and when removed it leaves white spots — but I prefer to use my skill to paint around leaving the paper showing through — it’s more natural, more truthful. 4 The oil painting In the face of the flames 2009 by O Sung Gyu is set around the white heat of the furnace at the heart of the foundry. It takes an almost scroll-like format, and encompasses the calm of the foundry interior, depicting crouched foundry workers and those tackling the untamed energy of the fire. O Sung Gyu describes his work: This is the first time I have worked on anything this size — so that has been a challenge. Also I am surprised to work on something with such contrasts. If you look at the painting there are three distinct areas all with varying intensities. I captured the intense heat in my original sketch and the furnace creates vibrant light with a life of its own appearing in strange places but also contrasts with the calm and the cool light from the skylights. Both lights require your eyes to adjust. This is the first time I have painted faces without all the detail — in both cases of the bright furnace and deep recess of the building you get a very interesting way of how your eyes see people — the intense heat distorts your vision in real life and when you look back into the dark away from the light again the figures are not all that clear. 5 The mosaic Work team contest 2009 is virtuosic and monumental in scale. Most murals and public sculptures in the DPRK today adopt themes of great and often overt narrative power. Designed by the artists Kim Hung IL and Kang Yong Sam and produced in collaboration with others from the Mansudae Art Studio, Work team contest is a tribute to the industriousness of workers in various sites of production. The scene is meticulously planned; a border of magnolias (the national flower) frames the scene and above the workers is a banner which reads, ‘Let’s support our Party by iron’. The workers themselves are decorated with flower garlands or hold bouquets; beaming, jubilant and curiously uniform in their demeanour, they appear radiant in their moment of glory. This image of striving for common prosperity, of ‘unbounded joy’, is typical of various forms of visual culture in the DPRK. Featured across media, including posters, film, television and billboards, this imagery reinforces the far-reaching influence of a singular creed in North Korean society. Prints The woodblock has a respected revolutionary history in Korea; a cheap and fast method of delivering propaganda during the anti-Japanese Liberation War, this genre of printmaking continues to be a distinct and recognisable art form advocating social and political messages. The woodblock has an immediacy and vitality easily understood and accepted. The linocut was introduced in the 1970s and has overtaken woodcuts in popularity due to its low cost, the ease with which it can be used, and the effects achieved by the use of heavily oiled inks in the printing process.