Somewhere Worth Visiting

Artist Lee Mijung began this body of work by observing that when searching online for "places worth visiting," countless images of different locations often appear strikingly similar. Although each photograph depicts a distinct site, the landscapes people choose to capture are repeatedly framed in nearly identical ways. In this process, the unique characteristics of individual places gradually dissolve, and landscapes become generalized images that could belong anywhere. For Lee, landscape is less a representation of nature itself than an icon extracted from the countless images that have been photographed, shared, and consumed. The exhibition Somewhere Worth Visiting begins with this paradoxical experience. In this exhibition, the sky, mountains, trees, and ground are presented not as components of a fixed and complete scene, but as individual elements that can be separated, relocated, and recombined. A landscape is no longer understood as a specific place, but as one possible arrangement among many. By fragmenting, codifying, and reassembling familiar landscapes, Lee invites viewers to reconsider the ways in which we consume and remember landscape.