Jeamin Cha

Fog and Smoke
Single channel video installation, 2013, HD video, 20minutes, color/sound

Fog and Smoke depicts an abandoned construction site in the Songdo International Business District in Incheon, South Korea. The construction came to a halt due to the global financial crisis and an economic recession in the real estate market. A camera records the outskirts of the “new town” where construction debris was dumped, and follows the last remaining fisherman in the old town as he drives his tractor across the new development. The video examines both the past and the present of the city through the interwoven footages of the fisherman and a tap dancer. In a dark night, the sound of the tap-dancing fills an empty apartment building and recedes into unknown corners of the newly built city. The dancer continuously accelerates his frantic tap dance as if to keep up with the breakneck speed and the insatiable desire for city development. On the other hand, the fisherman heads toward the sea, driving across the new town, built on the reclaimed land right in front of his house. What was once a coastal tide zone and the water front had also been a workplace for him. Fog and Smoke is made as a sequel to Sleep Walker (2009). Both videos deal with the symptoms of the frantic urban development in Korea. Through these works I try to unearth the anxiety and outrage that are overshadowed by the magnificent spectacle of the new cities.

A Film by
Jeamin Cha

Featuring
Cast
Tap dancer Dongil Kang
The last fisherman Deoksung Jung
(Radio sound) Announcer Junghee Song
(Radio sound) Estate agent Kihyuk Go
Driver1 Hyejin Jang
Driver2 Dongseok Shin

Producer Hyunjin Kim
Production Assistant Sunwoo Nam
Director of Photography Gookhyun Kang
Sound Design Achim Kho
Music Minwhee Lee

Filming cooperation
Songdo smart and compact city
Soam village

With Special Thanks to
Heemin Son, The chief of Soam village, Seunghee Lee, Inwon Yeo, Yoonseok Jung,
Seoul Art Space_Geumcheon, Bridget Martin

Supported by
Work on Work, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism