Udo Project
Exhibition Title: Udo 9th Scenery Project / 우도 9경 프로젝트
Date: Oct. 22, 2020 - Feb. 22, 2021
Venue: Multiple locations on Udo, South Korea
Organized by Art Lab Tea
Sponsored by Jeju Foundation for Arts & Culture
Workshops:
On Abstract Art: 15:10 - 17:10, Dec. 8th, 2020
On Children's Songs: 15:10 - 17:10, Dec. 15th, 2020
Venue: Udo Elementary School
Participants: Five 4th graders of Udo Elementary School
Presented work:
Udo-RE-Dream / 우(RE)드림, 2021
Public art project in association with Udo Elementary School
Collaborating musician: Guhn Kim
5 works on paper by the students, color pencil on paper, each 24 x 32cm
5 works on paper by the artist, color pencil on paper, each 24 x 15.5cm
2 children's songs composed by musician Guhn Kim, 4 min 42 sec, 2 min 38 sec
About the work:
Udo-RE-Dream is a community-based public art project led by Yujin Lee in collaboration with a Jeju-based composer Guhn Kim. The project was conducted on Udo, a small island located on the northeast coast of Jeju Island, South Korea. Famous for its "Eight Scenery," about a million people visit Udo every year. In recent years, however, the island's natural environment has been suffering from major development projects, such as the most recent "Hundertwasser resort project," ironically named after an Austrian artist/architect known for his environmental activism.
Udo-RE-Dream offered two creative workshops to five local students of Udo Elementary School. In the first workshop, the children learned about abstract painting. Then, they were each guided to translate five categories of past memories (the oldest, the most memorable, the one that they would like to forget, their most recent dream, and the future that they dream of) into different colors. Lastly, they were asked to create their own abstract work of art with the five colors they've chosen. In the second workshop, the children learned about Korea's first modern children's song made in 1924 under the Japanese occupation of Korea. The song titled, Half Moon, was composed and written by Yoon Geuk-Young, a freedom fighter who believed in enlightening children to achieve Korea's independence from Japan.
After the workshops, Lee took inspiration from the student's abstract artworks and created fuve new drawings, which were later gifted to the participating students. Lee also invited a Jeju-based composer Guhn Kim to create two new children's songs. The first song titled, Five Colors of Udo, is specifically dedicated to the five participating students. The second song titled, Year of Udo, is dedicated to the island.
Year of Udo, 2021, 4 minutes 42 seconds
Composed by Guhn Kim
Lyrics by Yujin Lee
Five Colors of Udo, 2021, 2 minutes 38 seconds
Composed and written by Guhn Kim
Abstract artworks (front and back) by Udo Elementary students, 2020
Color pencil on paper, each 24 x 32cm
Five reply drawings (front and back) by Yujin Lee, 2021
Color pencil on paper, each 24 x 15.5cm