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Vanishing Point
Photo by Thomas Struth
Bukseo Dong, Pyongyang, North Korea 2007, c-print, 162.6 x 212.2 cm. From Mutualart.com
“North Korea faded to black in the early 1990s. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had propped up its old Communist ally with cheap fuel oil, North Korea’s creakily inefficient economy collapsed. Power stations rusted to ruin. The lights went out. Hungry people scaled utility poles to pilfer bits of copper wire to swap for food. When the sun drops low in the sky, the landscape fades to gray and the squat little houses are swallowed up by the night. Entire villages vanish into the dusk. Even in parts of the showcase capital of Pyongyang, you can stroll down the middle of a main street at night without being bale to see the buildings on either side.” — Barbara Demick, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
"Korea 2007–2010," a solo exhibition of work by Thomas Struth, is on view through January 9, 2011, at Gallery Hyundai, Seoul.
“North Korea faded to black in the early 1990s. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had propped up its old Communist ally with cheap fuel oil, North Korea’s creakily inefficient economy collapsed. Power stations rusted to ruin. The lights went out. Hungry people scaled utility poles to pilfer bits of copper wire to swap for food. When the sun drops low in the sky, the landscape fades to gray and the squat little houses are swallowed up by the night. Entire villages vanish into the dusk. Even in parts of the showcase capital of Pyongyang, you can stroll down the middle of a main street at night without being bale to see the buildings on either side.” — Barbara Demick, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
"Korea 2007–2010," a solo exhibition of work by Thomas Struth, is on view through January 9, 2011, at Gallery Hyundai, Seoul.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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DESIGN OBSERVER JOBS
BOOKS BY
Writing About Architecture: Mastering the Language of Buildings and CitiesPrinceton Architectural Press, 2012
Where Were You?Feed Books, 2006
What is Graphic Design For?Rotovision, 2006
Uncanny: Surrealism and Graphic DesignMG Publications, 2010
Um. . .: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They MeanAnchor, 2008
More books by contributors >>
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