Min Young Choi

Department: Man and Communication
Website: minyounglab.com

Tears of Ulsan

What: A performance piece symbolising the sense of loss when big corporations leave the city that has grown to rely on them.

Why: In the South Korean city of Ulsan, the economic recession saw Hyundai Heavy Industries decide to go. The shipyard is Ulsan’s lifeblood and its inhabitants stand to lose everything. The move is part of a larger global pattern of what happens when these crucial companies leave.

How: People try and push an enormous wheel up a sloped track. The visual evokes the incredible effort that locals have invested and the heavy sorrow weighing them down after the company that they have worked so hard for is now seeking its fortune elsewhere.

“Our lives have become as heavy as the weight we lifted”