The Future Archaeologist
Installation, 2019
Place: The Deoksugung Palace Seoul, South Korea
For: National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art - Unearthing Future
Team: Jimenez Lai, Kyoung Eun Park, Yushan Men, Jake Parkin, David Musa, Jiajia Shi, Michael DePrez
The Future Archaeologist is an outdoor installation at the Deoksugung Palace in Seoul, South Korea, by the invitation of curator Jihoi Lee from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the passing of the last king of Korea, Gojong.
By constructing a platform six meters above the current datum, we excavate the air above and view the world today from the vantage point of 2000 years into the future. Archaeology is often performed through the excavation of earth below. Every year, a few centimeters of dust accumulates on streets, buildings, and landscapes. Over the course of decades or even centuries, layers of earth cover traces of the past. By excavating downwards, we uncover the past. Centuries from now, a future archaeologist will dig a great depth to find our time today, as the Deoksugung Palace, a site of historic significance, will be deeply submerged into the new earth. Our project, the Future Archaeologist, is an elevated platform to reach a future datum floating above us in time. This future datum flying in the sky will be a new normal centuries from now.
A short story in the format of a graphic novel, under the same title, is the final chapter of Citizens of No Place.