Gabriel White

Tongdo Fantasia (2008)

Single channel / Digital Video / Colour / Sound

"Tongdo Fantasia loosely documents a year living and working in South Korea in 2003. Tongdosa, one of Korea's three 'jewels' or great temples, is neighboured by Tongdo Fantasia, an amusement park. Korea is a society that that Buddha, Walt Disney and Kafka might have collaboratively envisaged. South Korea's temples form a network linked elegantly by ancient paths that traverse the peninsula's mountainous corrugations. Today, a stupendous network of highways and forests of apartment blocks disturb these old lines of communication. The narrative of Tongdo Fantasia can be likened to a constellation of stations linked by windy and slippery, partly imagined paths."

Artist's statement

Ngā ataata nā Gabriel WhiteOther works by Gabriel White

CIRCUIT is the
leading voice
for artist moving image
practice
in Aotearoa New Zealand,
distributing works,
critical review and
dialogues
which reflect our unique, contemporary
South Pacific context.

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mō ngā mahi toi kiriata
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atu ana i ngā mahi toi,
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Te Moananui-a-Kiwa.