Konglish

“Konglish” refers to English loan words that are used in the Korean language. This installation, part of the exhibition “we’ve got so much history,” features a selection of slang terms that combine a Korean word with an English word.

Vinyl, risograph-prints

Publication of a collection of Konglish, a lexicon, forthcoming in 2025.

I have collected hundreds of English loan words used in the Korean language, including a subsect that I call “hybrid slang terms.” These terms combine an English word with a Korean word, and I printed a selection to feature as an installation in my solo exhibition, “we’ve got so much history.” The hybrid slang terms are printed with the risograph, emphasizing the overprinting effect creating new colors where more than one ink overlaps. The installation consists of these posters with vinyl showing how to write out Korean words in English — transliterating. I will print the books with a risograph, and I will integrate hybrid slang posters throughout. Konglish is a celebration of alphabets and how, through transliteration, one may have access to a foreign language.