A Letter From Korea

A Letter From Korea
Phil Choo, 2009
Digital Print on Archival Linen Cotton Canvas Paper
Design Museum, Walker Hall

There are two definitions of "letter" in this artwork; one obviously being that it is a message in an envelope and another being the Korean alphabet characters. This once again touches upon the controversy between culture and modernity. The Korean letters flying out from the envelope signifies the liberating freedom of expressions in the Korean language. It also signifies the many different variety in ways of communications in the modern world. The tiny Korean letters coming out from the envelope almost seems digitalized as if the letters are flowing amongst the virtual space of the World Wide Web. With the rising price of stamps and the long wait for mailed letters, Email is used much more commonly and conveniently. The fact that the exhibit uses a printing of an envelope rather than pasting a real envelope instead shows how much influence technology has upon communication in the society today. Whether it is email or snail mail, they are both efficient ways of communicating with others but it can be seen that one is preferred over the other. This exhibit brings rise to the question that maybe Email and Fax machines will overcome the cultural old-fashioned way of mailing letters very soon.