Pyounghwa.html
2001
Pyounghwa is the Korean word for ‘peace’. This project was a web site and a site-specific outdoor installation in Kong Ju, South Korea. The Korean art organization, YATOO, commissioned the piece in October of 2001. The work is intended as a memorial for the victims of 9/11 and a meditation on peace in the climate of vengeful violence that followed that tragic event.
For the installation a gate tower of an ancient fortified city was turned into an interactive venue for the local community and visiting artists to share their thoughts on peace. In the installation hundreds of red ‘flags’ were made available. A writing desk was provided and visitors were invited to write their thoughts about peace and hang their flag with the others. By the end of the first day of the exhibition over 200 contributions had been made in over a dozen languages.
The flags each had one of 38 web addresses that all went to the same page. On this page was only a tiny film of someone falling from the twin towers. This image was simple a link to a list of the word ‘peace’ in the native language of every nationality of victims of the 9/11 attack.
