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[ Ramyeon ]
01 July 2023




I often eat ramyeon. There are always cooking examples printed on the packaging of ramyeon, and the ramyeon in the picture is well plated at a level of art. Of course, it is explained that this is a directed image but I tend to look at it when I choose ramyeon. Just as I am immersed in the movie even after seeing the comment, "The characters, products, and organizations depicted in this work are purely fictional and have no connection to real-life counterparts."

One day, I tried to cook just like the picture on the package of ramyeon, but unlike the picture of pak choi and the spring onion, it was wet and droopy in the soup and somewhat dull than the picture. Above all, in the picture, there were no dry flakes that the product actually had. Self-denial. The flakes are actually being seen as miniatures of the colorful toppings shown in the picture. The packing material of the ramyeon might be about 0.1mm thick. A drama between acting and reality is happening between the thin plastic.

We have no choice but to be deceived by others while living in the flow of capitalism. Sometimes we deceive others. You will also become more accustomed to seeing something planarized as a reality. As it has been, more and more in the future. While exploring my personal project, signboard culture, I began to relate this flat box to the various facades of the world. In architecture, façade means the face of a building. But for me, the façade goes beyond architecture and even includes ramyeon wrapping paper. The façade, which encompasses the concept of signboards, has a clear purpose of existence. Revealing, imprinting and appealing. It's clear. The world is getting clearer. However, this has made it easier for us to acquire and judge information, and the gap between seeing and judging is as instantaneous and thin as the thickness of the ramyeon package.

Can the world slow down? It is said that even the universe is accelerating its expansion now. I think most problems in the world are caused by speed. Rapid development, fast cars, fast delivery, shortening reels, etc. Like the Red Queen hypothesis, which originated from Alice in Wonderland, we live in a world where if we don't run faster, we fall behind. If there is an average value for the speed of all judgments that exist in the universe, isn't the praise for ambiguity an entity that can cool the speed down? Why don't we stop our running steps, abandon our conviction of the existence I'm looking at, and enjoy the time to judge slowly? Like me, who spent 30 minutes observing and imitating the cooking art of ramyeon, where the meal was supposed to be completed in three minutes.