Environmental issues have been attracting worldwide attention these days and attaching the modifier, green or green color, before each word has become an epidemic.  We often hear such terms as green market, green economy, green growth and green energy.

What could we imagine with the word design?  The normal view we see with design is the products we use being more convenient or looking more beautiful and grabbing our attention so we feel an urge to buy them. Then, what does design mean when the world green is added before it? This exhibition is the answer to that question.

This meaningful exhibition, which has been collecting graduate and under graduate’s work from the Green Design Graduate School since 2003, kicked off at the Modeling gallery in the KMU Design Building, 1st floor.

This is the first exhibition like this on campus although it has been shown outside a couple of times. It gives us the chance to see the products from 10 years of green design, kind of like a 10th anniversary special exhibition.

One of this event’s goals is informing how this major exists to classmates who don’t know about the Green Design Graduate School.

This event was different. Posters of this exhibition were unusual. They were made with T-shirts we could wear again after being used as posters, instead of papers to be used once and discarded. The exhibition started off with a performance of carrying these posters made of T-shirts from the main gate to event venue. This exhibition prepared not only artwork displays but also a variety of events such as water drawing performance, gallery talk, and Design Major’s talk shows.

It was like a class. It would be a shocking experience for people who are not interested in the environment. Professor Yun, Ho-sub who was in charge of this exhibition said that green design started with the question about design’s role and value in a period where environmental disasters are lurking. And we can’t avoid passing the problems facing us down to our descendants. Green design is tiny step toward the action we need to take to resolve this problem. In addition he said that he wanted to show us the value of not grabbing too much with hands even though we are making products we can touch. As I contemplated this, I think now that we can prevent human’s mistakes, so I decided to do green design work myself.

Everyone knows about how we have to cut down on our energy use because our natural sources are running out. However practicing that is difficult even when we are aware of it. I guess we know in our heads but we can’t feel it sincerely in our minds. So, we have to pay attention to people who act warm heartedly and look out for the environment. I think this exhibition is one way we can express our concern toward the environment. That’s why the existence of the Green Design Graduate School and this event are meaningful.

This event was named green design, different from usual exhibits, and each work was unique. I saw designer’s exhibits show concern for the environment by sublimating messages about global warming, the destruction of the environment, and nuclear energy into their work.

Bowling ball made of tape used as wrapping paper, a flowerpot made of worn or small shoes, a threatened polar bear and penguins on a tower made by paper cups we are using unconsciously, people in a photo who are picking up waste papers for keeping their lives which were thrown away by others, baby’s heart beat sound in a monitor which sounds like bells alerting us to the growing nuclear energy power plants, ‘No more nuclear power plants’ display and so on.

A variety of eco based works are on display even though their scale is not that large.

Graduate from Green Design, Jeong Da-un, who used to be a product warping designer of an electronic company, said that she felt saving energy is possible through designer determination. She says: “I’d like to send the message to people that we should take concern of disposable items we throw away without thinking by seeking green design”. This is the reason she took a part in this exhibition.

Penguins, which are familiar to people thanks to a documentary film from one broadcasting company, are leaning against each other, standing dangerously on thin ice.

Our cars, our hair dryers, and our shampoo are taking away their homes. Building a penguin tower is an event people participate in to warn of danger. A tower piled with parts of penguins and finally eggs put precariously on top of those penguins.

Graduate school student, Park Sun-hee, who participated in this event said: “I felt like I went back to my childhood period when I built the penguins, and when I finally put the eggs on it dawned on me: ‘That’s it’, the penguin’s next generation has come!”

In addition to the green design exhibition, a variety of events were held such as professor Yun Jae-lim’s ecology poem gallery talk which has awakened us to our apathy on the environment, and a performance showing people throwing tubes to polar bears and penguins who are living with an uncertain future due to melting glaciers.

This exhibition showed us how widely and deeply the range of ‘green’ can be absorbed into our lives.

After looking around this exhibition, it seems that there is nothing we use that should be thrown away. Somehow, they all can be used as something. It really depends on our intentions.

Having an interest in the environment, turning over our perceptions and putting them into action are lessons we should learn from the Green Design Exhibition.

‘Everything is one’ like name of one of the works of art made of dumped piece of cloths states. The land, sky, water and air we are now living in are one. We should change our sights to things we are using and seeing.

It’s not difficult. Just put down your paper cup in your left hand right now while you are reading this. That’s the first step you can take. 

In the beautiful spring under the warm sunshine, the first step to making the world green is in your hand.

It would be great to start with the Green Design Exhibition.

The exhibition runs until Apr 18th on the 1st floor, KMU Design Building.