A DIFFERENT KIND OF MEMORIAL

At the top of Mt Namsan, the geomantic southern mountain of the city of Seoul, is Seoul tower, and at the base of this tower are a number of overpriced refreshment stands, a place for the putting on of cultural events, and a collection of lookout points that take in the view of the surrounding landscape.

Lining these lookout areas is a metal grill fence, and attached to the fence are thousands of small padlocks marked with a promise. Seoulites have appropriated these places in much the same way they do anywhere they feel content or joyful - making their mark, noting their place - leaving a note to the world that there were there, and at that time they were happy.

SOUTHWARDS / SEOUL TOWER, MT. NAMSAN

Witnessing the Korean methods of mark making across the city, particularly at Namsan, and at the lantern festival, made me wonder if there was something to learn from them as examples of memorial making. Each note or padlock was a memorial to self in a point in time, that point being the present. We constantly strive to mark the world with our passing, perhaps these are the form of a contemporary memorial.

NORTHWARDS / SEOUL TOWER, MT. NAMSAN

Immediacy is a defining quality of the modern world. We mark it now, with how we feel now. We blog, we post, we text, we email, we call now. I’m not sure that we even need an immediate response. All that matters is our voice has been put out there, in the world, outside ourselves.

Can this have relevance for the typology of cemetery? Perhaps not for the deceased, but perhaps towards accessibility by the living.