DOOSAN Humanities Theater 2019
Apartment Nation

The symbolic architecture of Korea today is not the four gates or the palaces but the apartment. Although the apartment is an architectural structure that came from abroad, it was the most successful in Korea and has become the most ‘Korean’ architectural structure. Apartments in Korea have always been subjects of devaluation in the traditional Western-centered humanities. This is most likely a direct outcome of the fact that the apartment no longer fulfills its function as a dwelling space, but has also become a product for investment. But this doesn’t mean that we can just get rid of apartments altogether. In a country lacking public housing, the apartment is still favored as the most safe and pleasant dwelling space. For the young generation, apartments undergoing redevelopment stir up nostalgia for home. For some, the apartment is an aesthetic subject. In order to deal with the intricately woven sentimentality regarding the apartment, diverse perspectives from various fields including architecture, sociology, economy and anthropology  are necessary to contemplate on the trend of life for Koreans, who have passed through periods of westernization and modernization, and to consider a better direction of life.

Nokcheon Has Fields of Shit

This play is an adaptation of a short story by Lee Changdong, the recipient of the Hankook Ilbo Creative Literature Award in 1992. The story was praised for its realistic portrayal of the world where ugly truths lie beneath the ostensibly peaceful surface, just like how there are fields of Shit spread throughout the bottom of an apartment construction site. The story raises questions about the significance of apartments in our lives and whether these concrete skyscrapers can truly make us happy. These questions are still valid in our lives today, as urbanization adds to the ennui in daily life, impoverishing our lives and bringing a sense of loss among us. The story was adapted from a contemporary view by the DAC Artist Yoon Sungho, and directed by Shin Yucheong, who is noted for his sensory-stimulating expressions and mise-en-scene