Here in the Beginning, There at the End

Permanent public installation - Welded steel, steel wire, lighting. Dong-bu building complex, Cheong ju, Korea (2015).

Artwork installation : The Bite Back Movement (Alexander Augustus / Seung youn Lee).

Cheongju Cultural foundation commissioned us to make a permanent artwork installation for their historic cigarette factory, which was being renovated. On exploring the space we found a dried pollock fish in the roof rafters. The dried Pollock was placed in the old Cigarette factory long ago, and has been looking down on the factory workers for generations. This would have been placed there at the opening of the building, decades before as a spirit to bring good luck.

We took this pollock and I sculpted a colossal version of it in steel. Together the god and building will swim through time together, having survived Korea’s Civil war, economic crisis and rapid industrialisation. The hopes and dreams for the success of this building are buried in the Pollock’s mind. As the building is renovated, so too is the Pollock God. The shadow installations show the layers of time which the god swims through.