VOL.95/2026.06

One-Liner Quotes

 

What I Discovered in the Crevices of the City

 

 

2026.06

 

 

After moving to the capital, the Seoul that I so diligently explored became divided into roughly two categories for me: that which leaves a memory, and that which leaves an impression. Typically, things that were grand and splendid belonged to the former, while things that were small and tender remained as the latter. Memories held a sort of momentary intensity, as if capturing the “me” of that exact moment in a mirror. On the other hand, things that were small or ordinary left a faint trace of when or where they were found; yet, they were unmistakably discovered in the world outside of myself, leaving behind something entirely new that did not previously exist within me. In the form of a continuous and perpetual subconscious, these discoveries have always rendered my life fresh and abundant.

 

Life grows in the crevices, much like the greenery that takes root within the cracks of a rock. Life does not grow on the epidermis. Only when we actively strive to look can we discern the roots firmly anchored somewhere beneath. The more splendid the epidermis appears, the more difficult it becomes to make that effort; or perhaps, it could be quite the opposite. Nevertheless, we must incessantly discover others in order to understand ourselves. There is nothing to be gained from a mirror that reflects only the self.

 

 

Hwang Jungeun’s novel, One Hundred Shadows, is a story about those very crevices. An old electronics market in the heart of the city serves as the backdrop for the narrative, a massive structure often labeled a slum, or perhaps, a cluster of countless crevices. Within this cluster, the leisurely and beautiful movements of the owner of “Omusa,” an old light bulb shop, as well as the fresh, innocent romance between Eunkyo and Mujae, come vibrantly alive. In the empty space left behind after one of the five market buildings, once bustling with the warmth of human presence, was demolished, a green space has been developed.

 

 

The old electronics market is a metaphor for the actual Sewoon Sangga located in Seoul. In the novel, the brief word “slum,” used by outsiders to define the market, is juxtaposed with the rather complex and plausible official title, the “Sewoon Redevelopment Promotion Zone.” While society and its institutions measured them as a single, homogenous mass, the cluster of countless crevices within rarely surfaced to the world above. In 2009, Hyundaesangga, one of the eight buildings comprising the Sewoon complex, was demolished, and a green space was established in its place. This green space, which altered its appearance multiple times due to varying utilities and political controversies, proved to be far smaller than the light, shadows, metallic sounds, and smell of oil that it originally contained.

 

I hope that you will discover the smaller things within Seoul. I hope you will step into the world outside of yourself and take away things that did not previously exist within you. I hope that these perpetual impressions will become a gift, enriching your life and surroundings within your subconscious. I hope you will discover the crevices. For there is nothing to be gained from a mirror that reflects only the self.

 

 

 

 

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Written by Seol Myeong-Mun (Architect·Cultural Critic)

The author is a practicing architect and critic who designs extraordinary spaces rooted in a deep insight into nature, people, and history. Serving as a steering committee member of the Critics’ Solidarity, a coalition of young critics, the author actively writes numerous book reviews and cultural critiques.