Tourist - Wire, 2009

‘Tourist – Wire’ is part of a series of works by Hong Sungdo (1953, Korea) that deal with travel and memory. “I take many photos and get fresh feelings every time I look at them,” says Sungdo, “but the trips don’t necessarily last longer in my memory.” ‘Tourist – Wire’ combines a photographic memento of a commonplace scene encountered by the artist during his travels with sculptural elements. The resulting image is distorted. The viewer, no longer the passive recipient of a mere photographic record, becomes an active participant in its interpretation: a dynamic ‘re-inventor’ of the photograph and with it of Sungdo’s memory.