Minjun Shin



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〈2019/4/6〉, 〈2020/2/23〉, 〈2021/6/17〉, 〈2022/8/1〉

2025
Pigment print, aluminum frame
42.0 × 59.4(4)
















This work begins from the concept of giril (which means the anniversary of a death in Korea).

In the interviews conducted for the Practice of Living project, participants commonly described the traumatic loss of a family member as a turning point: they experienced themselves in conflict with the world—especially in the case of suicide—and faced a reality where, unlike their own collapse, the world went on indifferently. They also confessed that, out of longing, they had saved countless photographs of the deceased on that date, but soon found themselves unable to look at them.

For each artwork using date, I used images from newspapers published on that day. Some were reproduced in excess, while others were blurred in black, in order to visualize both the inner disaster of grief and the refusal to accept it—expressed through the language of images.

The selection of images was guided by the question: how might the supposedly objective images of the press connect differently to deaths experienced personally by each performer? These images, situated at once in objectivity and subjectivity, reconstruct “that day” as it was lived by the performers/practitioner, and are conveyed as affective images.


Newspaper Articles and Images Referenced
To confess: after the square in 2016, the square I encountered again in 2024 was a sorrowful experience. My former comrades, who once spoke of making the nation “a country worthy of being called a country,” were no longer by my side. When I met my friends, the conversations revolved around stocks and real estate. And yet, campaign after campaign, slogans of change—sparkling, radiant words crafted to capture hearts—were endlessly reproduced. I no longer believe much in promises of change made by those in power.


Newspaper Articles and Images Referenced
〈April 6, 2019〉
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Village melted by wildfire—‘How can we live on now…’”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “No money or tools left for farming… I could only cry”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Emergency support: 4 billion won special grant, 250 million won relief funds”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Knowing the pain, we declined to take family photos”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “TV schedule, April 6, 2019”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “Evacuated in a rush with only rain boots… returned to find house and farm equipment in ashes”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “Government’s swift response prevented catastrophe, but disaster prevention system still full of holes”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “That bakery we once visited in bell-bottoms… now a ‘newtro’ hotspot”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “Today’s weather, April 6, 2019”
  • Photograph: Yanghwajin, Seoul
  • Photograph: Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival, Seoul

〈February 23, 2020〉
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Today’s weather, February 23, 2020”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “COVID-19: hoarding, obstruction of quarantine, illegal rallies to be punished by law”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “First death in an isolated ward outside the quarantine network”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “COVID-19 alert raised to ‘serious’—this week will be a watershed”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “With Tapgol Park closed and soup kitchens shut, the homeless are left with no place to go”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “On the front line of the war against COVID-19”
  • Photograph: Songdo Beach, Busan
  • Photograph: Burning of belongings in Yeongdo, Busan
  • Photograph: Funeral hall during COVID-19

〈June 17, 2021〉
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Millet blossoms on Yangjaecheon, Seoul”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Youth invoked 21 times—spotlight on real estate policy”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Yoon Seok-yeol popular now, but in shifting battlegrounds the spotlight changes”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Children refugees out of the dark, but the future remains bleak”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “KOSPI reaches all-time high”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “In times of change, even a phone call is comfort—BIFAN opens July 8”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “Woke up to find my cryptocurrency delisted”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “2021 Seoul Volunteer Award—call for nominations”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “Despite new government, Gaza bombed after only 26 days of ceasefire”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “Today’s weather, June 17, 2021”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “73% cite imbalance in jobs and regions—over half want to move to the capital area”
  • Photograph: Songdo Central Park
  • Image: Body hair

〈August 1, 2022〉
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Ruling party consumed by power struggle—emergency committee faces obstacles”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Kwon Seong-dong resigns—ruling party’s leadership unstable”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Sacred zelkova tree featured in Extraordinary Attorney Woo at risk of decline”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Polluted air may damage blood vessels, increase risk of dementia in the elderly”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “After 11 years, POSCO workers gain legal recognition—‘Let the next generation live without discrimination’”
  • Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Personnel appointments, August 1, 2022”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “Missed move-in registration on moving day—tenant left without deposit”
  • Hankook Ilbo: “Today’s weather, August 1, 2022”
  • Photograph: Stone pagoda, Donghaksa Temple, Gyeryong
  • Photograph: Main hall, Donghaksa Temple, Gyeryong