This work began with the question “What is the most German?”, proposed for last year’s exhibition „DEUTSCH“ at the Kunstmuseum Heidenheim.
As a Korean living in Germany, I bring together the foods, brands, desserts, and everyday objects that I have come to consume naturally in my daily life in Germany on a single Kachelofen (tiled stove). Things that initially felt unfamiliar gradually became familiar through repetition, and at some point became part of my life and the memories that shape it.
Food is not simply something we consume, but a medium through which we remember people, places, seasons, and relationships. In particular, the foods I consumed hold memories of everyday moments shared with someone I loved.
A Kachelofen continues to retain heat long after the fire has gone out. The same is true, for me, of a past love. Time has passed, but the warmth of those moments remains in my memory and continues to warm me in the present.
The Kachelofen therefore becomes, in this work, a material device for storing memory and love. Food, objects, images, and brands transform into layers of memory accumulated through living in a particular place.
Through this work, I reflect on how the culture of a place enters an individual’s life, and how it transforms into new personal memories through encounters with another culture. Rather than documenting a specific place, the work explores the process of living in an unfamiliar environment, experiencing and consuming its everyday life, falling in love, and ultimately making that place part of oneself.
