Sternbau No. 4
2007
crystal, glass and acrylic beads on nickel-chrome wire,
stainless steel and aluminum armature
131 × φ71 cm
Collection of Mr. Gao, Shanghai
Courtesy: Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York

Heaven and Earth
2007
fiberglass, plywood, plaster, mortar, tiles, plastic, steel, ink
128 × 768 × 768 cm
Courtesy: PKM Gallery, Seoul

Misremembered Lines
2011
crystal, glass and acrylic beads on nickel-chrome wire, stainless-steel and aluminum armature
170 × 175 × 150 cm
Courtesy: Studio Lee Bul

Photo: Watanabe Osamu

Snow-covered mountains stand along the rim of a bathtub which is filled with black liquid. The scene depicts Heaven Lake (Cheonji) a crater lake located atop Mt. Baekdu, a historical mountain lying in North Korea. With the country divided between north and south, the people of the south can no longer visit the lake, but it nevertheless lives on in their minds as a symbolic ideal. Sternbau, which hangs from above, is a reference to drawings by Bruno Taut of the same name, and thus there is a juxtaposition of two fantasy landscapes – one of the East and one of the West projecting their ideals respectively.