Hello everyone,
This is Min.
About 5 years ago, my senior Hwalsung said, “Let’s work together.” After that, as the 14th member of Workroom, I’ve used my e-mail address 14@wkrm.kr almost every day. I’m going to use this until January 31, 2022. The words that Kevin Kelly, the first editor-in-chief of Wired, emphasizes gave me a power to make this big and trivial decision. “Measure twice, cut once.”
Workroom is very special for me, so I don’t want to use the words “leave” or something. As soon as I complete the sentence, I think it will actually happen. Until I find a perfect expression by organizing projects I’ve been involved in for the rest of the month, I want to continue my senior Hyungjin’s joke with sincerity, “A relationship that exploits each other without awkwardness,” in some way.
On February 22, 2022, (My favorite number is 2. This day includes it 6 times!) I move my affiliation to Ahn Graphics Lab (in short “AG Lab”), an independent division of Ahn Graphics, a design firm and a publishing house founded by Ahn Sang-soo. (For your information, the host of Min Guhong Manufacturing, a parasitic company that I’ve been running, is also changed, and New Order, which advocates a “liberal arts course for modern people,” is still held at Tastehouse and Studio Pie.) I’m the only member of AG Lab, and my title is “director.” But I don’t care, so please call me comfortably as usual.
AG Lab is a sprout, a spore, or a side branch of AG. AG Lab (1) plans and carries out large and small projects by using the legacy that AG has accumulated in the Korean design world for over 35 years, (2) seeks various ways to produce and handle content online and offline, (3) experiments with another model of working by supporting Min Guhong Mfg., (4) wants to be a hyperlink between art and design through Min Guhong Mfg., (5) and shares its successes and failures in and out of the existing education system such as Paju Typography Institute (PaTI), Korean Society of Typography, New Order, etc. AG Lab’s code of conduct is as follows. “Small, simple, out of the blue, constantly!” It looks a bit grand, but it’s not much different from what I’ve been doing so far. It’s just that a surprise episode that wasn’t planned has been added. Or how about saying that I have a good friend?
The completed space is not important for AG Lab right now. First, with just me, my business partner Laurel Schwulst, and a laptop, I’ll start unofficial work in and out of Firefly Sanctuary, Princeton University, and Linked by Air for about two weeks in New York, and then rent a desk and a chair until I have a physical hyperlink in Seoul. If there is any suitable place for AG Lab (along with Min Guhong Mfg.) to entrust, please feel free to let me know.
Through this opportunity to glorify the facts, I want to reveal my sincere heart. A part of the power that moved me was hoping that the place where I work would be a little better. Thank you to everyone who made memories together in Workroom for helping me discover the precious heart. They were and are seniors and colleagues, and sometimes, friends and teachers for me. (I want to say hello one by one, but after careful calculation, I think I need about a year.) Thanks to Workroom, I spent my early and mid-30s happily and beautifully. I’m going to continue to quote and practice what I’ve heard and learned in Workroom, so please take good care of me in the future.
I hope everyone has a happy new year, and I ask for your interest and love in Workroom, AG Lab, and even Min Guhong Mfg. in 2022.
Best,
Min