The suicide rate has been rapidly increasing in recent years in South Korea due to economical and cultural factors. Many projects were created to address this problem, one of the most well-known being the Mapo Bridge of Life. The installation is located at Mapo Bridge of the Han River in Seoul, and is a government funded project organized by Samsung Life Insurance. It is a motion-activated installation attached to the handrails on the bridge which lights up whenever someone walks by to display encouraging and empathetic messages, such as ‘You are important’, ‘It must have been difficult’, ‘Don’t worry’. The project was created as a form of strategy to prevent those struggling with suicide from jumping off the bridge, by hopefully reigniting their will to live. However, despite its good intentions, the installation proved to be ineffective in terms of reaching its purpose, and the number of attempted suicides were observed to be increased by six times.
Some of the main factors which have contributed to the high suicide rate is the stressful workplace and education environments which demand long hours of work or study into the night. The miniscule acceptance rate of Korean universities and the difficulty of finding employment results in individuals losing their sense of self-worth as the name of the school or company is tied to family honor. Additionally, seeking professional help is considered shameful and most people turn to improper ways to heal their pain.
My final project is an image of the installation of the bridge, and the buildings are the scenery behind its bars. I wanted to create my illustration of the bridge to be able to curl up into a hamster wheel because I wanted to express how the fear of falling behind in the success driven culture of Korea led to people aimlessly running towards their goal. The person in the wheel has stopped running because he has lost his sense of purpose in this meaningless cycle.
My intention for this project is to portray how the competitive society of Korea puts an endless burden on people to continuously prove the value of their existence. Although economic development is important, a country should also work to become a nation which embraces the true growth of an individual.
Prototype:
