Extended Barrier
Mixed materials and components
1500*1500*1000 (mm)
“Extended Barrier” explores how the dam is used for political control and even a weapon.
In Korea, water has become highly politicised because of the division between North and South. When North Korea releases water from its dams, it directly affects the South such as flood and drought. It shows how water isn’t just a natural resource; it can also be used as a kind of pressure. And in response, South Korea keeps building more dams, creating this growing network of artificial barriers.
Inside a dam, the water isn’t part of a natural flow anymore. It’s trapped, and it moves only because pumps and mechanical systems force it to circulate. From the outside the structure looks stable and complete, but inside it depends on all these hidden technologies to maintain an artificial current. By revealing these mechanisms, I’m trying to visualise the logic of control and the subtle violence built into the system.
The installation is made from reconfigured water guns, motor pumps, and pipes. By exposing these components, the work brings those invisible political tensions to the surface and shows how the dam operates as a language of power. In the end, I want viewers to reconsider the dam as something far from neutral — an infrastructure that quietly performs control.