From the assumed wondrous nature of North Korea to the most mechanical man’s presentation of Arirang, the ground level includes the Happy Land Games, an installation of blown up to life size punched out toys that North Koreans would find in Choco-Pie boxes smuggled into North Korea, a highly sought after confectionary. Made by MDF board with C+C Router cuts, the installation includes the image of the toys in Benday dots, introducting both new D-Fab and old print technologies.
In 2014 at the Ethan Cohen Gallery, with the exhibition “Choco·Pie Propaganda: From North Korea with Love,” Mina Cheon installed 10,000 Choco·Pies on the ground for the American audience to taste, so that the awareness was about learning the desire of North Koreans. This time, with the current show, the toys from the box are life size so people can play with them at the gallery. These are alternative games, like arcades, or watching illegal video.
