Gun Lee

Hi, I am Gun Lee.

I am a visual communicator and a graphic designer based between London, UK, and Seoul, Korea. In 2018, I have achieved a BA in Sculpture at the Seoul National University. My key interest is in storytelling related to social-political issues. I am deeply curious about and fascinated by irrational human acts.

Currently, I work as a UX/UI designer and also run a small publishing house called Leewonbooks in Seoul, South Korea. The main categories are politics, law, history, garden design, and illustrated storybooks.

The theme throughout the journey at the RCA has been ‘imperfect hero myths and paradoxes’. For the MA dissertation, I have established a theory for a narrative building called the ‘fugitive gaps’. The term refers to the three different types of paradoxical chaos between rationality and irrationality. While observing the social-political happenings under the global Covid pandemic, I focused particularly on the term ‘double-standards' through the project <O Brave New Voices>.

Project <O Brave New Voices> is a collection of four illustrated stories around four Mr. Ones, the wooden mannequins in the Unknown Town. Each story depicts different kinds of hypocrites playing hot potato on responsibility related to the mysterious crimes happening in the neighborhood.

The first two episodes presented in the RCA2021 are <Three Makes Unicon> and <Silenced Bell>. They are bound into a “Dos-a-dos book”. The reason behind choosing this specific binding technique is to physically express the term ‘double-standard. By changing the idea of ‘back and front’ to a relative term, both sides of the story now have equal pleading. At the end of the book, it is up to the reader to make a judgment.

Medium:

Illustrated Storybook Series

Mr. Anyone, the one-eyed scholar

Interested in finding out more? — Take a look at the first two chapters of the <Three Makes Unicon>!

The first episode of <O Brave New Voices>

There is an old saying in Korea, "Three can make a tiger."

It refers to a situation where a rumour eventually becomes to be believed as something true. The book depicts the gradual process of crowd agitation and how a biased view can result in a random witch-hunt.

<Three Makes Unicon> is the tale of Mr. Anyone, the mono-eyed scholar in a fancy white suit.

Fairly educated and hardworking,

Mr.Anyone was a man of elegance

Always dress-up in a fancy white suit and hat,

Polished his skin with the finest walnut oil

Blushed his paleface like the finest red oak

Everyone in town called him

“Anyone is the man to judge.”

Mr.Anyone coveted fame and gain

That Everyone wants

But he also was a man who knows his game

Anyone loved to gain without blame

I would like to ask all,

- What is true and false?

- Who decides the innocent and the guilty?

Medium:

Dos-a-dos Hardback cover, illustrated storybook, 158 pages

Size:

150*330, 158 pages

Chaos Class Community Humour Hypocrisy Identity Ideology Irony Morality Narrative Responsibility Words

Mr. Someone, the unselling detective

They had a plan to make No-one fun

Interested in finding out more? — Take a look at the first two chapters of the <Silenced Bell>! You can download the pdf of the first two chapters of the book.

The second episode of <O Brave New Voices>

The book describes how the only man in town to dissuade the unknown voice is muted under the pressure of the whole. However, has the bell indeed lost its glow?

<Silenced bell> is the tale of Mr. Someone, the unselling detective with the golden bell.

Honest and sincere

Without a doubt,

Mr. Someone was a serious man

Unlike anyone else in the Unknown Town

Two ears under his mask

Everyone called him a freak.

“What kind of a true wooden man is born with ears?

Look at those hideous bumps!”

Mr. Someone coveted truth and justice

That Anyone might consider for once

But not Everyone wants

Mr. Someone also knew

It was better to gain blame

Than to live in shame

I would like to ask all,

- Is the mass opinion the right one?

- If not, who is to speak, and who is to be heard?

Medium:

Dos-a-dos Hardback cover, illustrated storybook, 158 pages

Size:

150*330, 158 pages

Anonymity Chaos Community Crowd agitation Mass Myth Paradox pattern politics Scenario Truth Wooden mannequins

Gun Lee

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Royal College of Art