Speaker
Digital print with soundtrack, South Korea, 2007

Speaker

“Remember, once you get to The Demilitarized Zone, there is no more De.”

David Palmer, Public Affairs Specialist for the US Forces Korea.

On experiencing this Militarized environment, there is a realisation that the political is not just about representation and representable content, but is very much about how spaces are structured or how time is regimented. Using audio and image collected from research within the Korean DMZ, ‘Speaker’ presents Gijeong-dong, a North Korean Propaganda village within the north side of the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Here at the DMZ, the regiments of time and the structure of space serve to highlight the durational aspect of this constant breakdown and highly elaborate form of representing an antagonism that wont go away.

“During Armistice talks, North Korea desired a return of all territory North of the 38th Parallel where they began the war. Since the battle line continued up and across the country, and due to continuing operations by the UN Command, North Korea eventually accepted this blue line as the Military Demarcation Line and that was roughly the centre point for the forces that were engaged in fighting throughout that time period.

Once the line was agreed to both sides had 72 hours to withdraw 2 kilometres either side of that line. One that was completed that set up the 4 kilometre wide, 241 kilometre long Demilitarized Zone, which runs from coast to coast.”

Extract from an interview with Lieutenant Commander Christopher Dignan of the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission recorded at Camp Boniface, Panmunjom.

It was here on July 27, 1953 that the American imperialists got down on their knees before the heroic Chosun people to sign the ceasefire for the war they had provoked June 25, 1950.

North Korean message broadcast from loud speakers within Gijeong-dong Village, North Korea, across to the South.