A Wall of Coalition, not Separation - Sang Yoon Lee (Lecturer at Seoul National University)

Numbers have recently been a hot issue in the art world. Consider the following numbers: 1,712,462, 14,000, 8,601, 4,219. Although the meanings of these numbers are vague, we all know that they are big numbers. The first one indicates the number of recycled plastic bottles used in Happy Together by Jeong-Hwa Choi. Rachale Whiteread, a famous leader of the Young British Artists, used 14,000 paper boxes for Embankment. Damien Hirst used 8,601 diamonds for his For the Love of God. The last number, 4,219, indicates the number of pieces of wood and joints that MiYe Park used in Building a Wall. Even though these works are all similar in that they produce spectacles through their size and the number of their constitutive units, the works of MiYe Park are in a clearly different category.

The uniqueness of Building a Wall lies in is in the way its 4,219 pieces join together to build one wall. Even though MiYe Park's works are similar to contemporary artworks that produce spectacles through their sizes and number of units, we can see that her 4,219 individual pieces are tuned by her hands one by one. In this way, they differ from the impersonal emptiness of mass production that lies behind the splendor of other 'spectacles.' Due to her attitude toward her pieces, her work has the quality of the sublime. The wood pieces have their own numbers that deliberately indicate where each piece should be located. The character 生, meaning "life," preceding each number suggests that the individual pieces are living beings or, perhaps, symbols of ourselves.

Her 4,219 pieces each play individual roles in building the wall, and each piece is actively joined in its construction. If only one piece is missing, the wall cannot stand: this is the difference between this work and others that use similar strategies of accumulation. Her wall does not mark an exclusive boundary but stands for a new unity. Out of the 4,219 pieces no one piece can substitute another since all pieces are different. If 生01.02 is to maintain its structure and form, 生01.01 and 生01.03 are also needed. Even though the pieces look similar, they are all in fact designed to be different. 生01.01 and 生02.01 differ by 1/10cm, and as the numbers increase to 1,000, 3,000, and 4,219 these small distinctions produce the sculpture's sinuous shape. The coloring of the pieces also emphasizes each piece's individuality. Their aggregation is not a product of meaningless and random repetition or mechanical positioning; the wall is created through a sincere coalition based on the roles of each piece.

Mi Ye Park's passion is impressive because she visualizes the process of the wall's coalition. She in particular challenges cotemporary deconstructivist and relativist tendencies. Her arduous spirit builds a wall while handling its 4,219 pieces with endurance and expectation. Eventually, she reveals something that we do not have but we really need: the secret of coalition.