Eight-channel sound, onggi, speakers, 2025

Bororong is an immersive sound and ceramics installation created during an artist residency at Gapado AiR, South Korea and commissioned for the Cheongju Craft Biennale 2025.

It is a collaboration with Seungchul Kang, a master artisan of Jeju onggi, earthenware pots made of unglazed volcanic clay. Their rich colours and natural sheen come from the ash and iron in the clay and the extreme heat of the firing process. The title is taken from the traditional Jeju dialect description of the sound made when etching a pattern on the finished onggi.

This work explores the link between the material of the clay and the essence of Jeju-do which was itself formed from the eruption of an under-water volcano around two million years ago.

Sounds recorded in the Damhwahun ceramics workshop play from speakers placed within four bespoke onggi – two hangari, used for storing fermented food such as kimchi and sauces, and two heobeoks, traditional Jeju vessels used for storing drinks and carrying water.

Four separate speakers on the walls play a soundscape of nature sounds recorded in Jeju, constructing a sensory landscape where sound, material, and narrative of place intersect.