Myungtaek Jung, Republic of Korea

Dumbung-jucho

2021

Bronze, stainless steel, rivets, stone

Varying dimensions

A creative response to Dumbung-jucho by Olivia Kan-Sperling

My dream first date is a private tour of the Lascaux caves. You would, I suppose, have to be an archaeologist. We’d walk by the paintings, which would seem to flicker like golden candlelight, and in the near-darkness I’d say, tremulously, “I almost feel that they are more alive than you and me.” You’d say: “Those were violent times.” Afterwards we’d have a cigarette outside, the light would fall like golden snowflakes, and I’d cry at what I’d seen.

Trained in woodworking and furniture design in Korea’s Hongik University and then honing his craft further at New York’s Rochester Institute of Technology, art-furniture maker Myungtaek Jung is constantly stiving to marry aesthetic forms with functionality. His thesis ‘Art Furniture Embodying the Three Non-being Spirits of Korean Ancient Architecture,’ set the tone for his future work. He has held solo exhibitions in the United States, Egypt, and Korea.