The following projects are texts written in tandem with the ongoing surface, sound and spatial work. Most, if not all of these are fictional texts. Some are based upon certain aspects of reality and historical situations. Others are just pure imagination. The characters for the most part are not real people. But there may be sometimes, some real people who resemble these characters.
This process of writing began with the Thieves Like Us exhibit at d / p in the year 2021. Writing has now slowly worked itself in to become a prominent and regular component of my practice. Perhaps not too dissimilar to songwriting, this process of writing now somehow informs the visual work and the visual work somehow informs the writing. And with every project there is always a rigorous back and forth.
The themes in my work are constantly shifting. But I continue to come back to some themes over and over again. I am fascinated by this concept of thieves. But not the thieves you may be familiar with through cinema and literature. I am more interested in extremely subtle thieves. The kind of thieves who perhaps could not be criminally implicated for their actions. And more so, I am fascinated by the complex morality/ethics in such situations. When is a thief, truly a thief? Some of my writing also explores themes of diversity and discrimination. Growing up as a kind of multicultural child who appeared different than the majority, I have often been curious and perplexed by this state of otherness that has long followed me in life.
Please find below a series of links to PDF files of these written texts. Please be aware that these texts have been uploaded here strictly for reference/information only.
A supplementary text written for the exhibition, Text And Illustration—Meet Albrecht Dürer’s Prints at the National Museum of World Writing Systems, Incheon, South Korea from 2023 to 2024.
The Presence of Absence—
The Half Of An Egg Thief (English)
부재의 존재—
달걀 반쪽 도둑 (Korean)
A series of texts written for Silent Laughter at A-Lounge Contemporary Art Space, Seoul, South Korea in the year 2023.
Chapter 1.
침묵에 귀 기울이기. 침묵 듣기.
Listening to Silence. Hearing Silence.
Chapter 2.
품절 이라는 이름의 현지 요리 주문하기.
Ordering A Local Dish Called Sold Out.
Chapter 3.
한 시간 동안 지속되는 14분 회의.
Fourteen Minute Meetings That Last For One Hour.
Chapter 4.
통닭 한 마리 주문하고 혼자 먹기.
Ordering Whole Chickens and Eating Them All By Myself.
Chapter 5.
곰과 호돌이가 마늘을 먹고 사람이 되었을 때.
When A Bear and Hodori Ate Garlic And Made People.
Chapter 6.
붉은 두부.
A Red Tofu.
Chapter 7.
내 남자 가슴에 드리워진 그림자.
The Shadow Cast From My Man Boobs.
A supplementary text written for A Place Between Rhythm And Rhythm, 사이의 리듬들 at the Choi Man Lin Museum in the year 2023.
공기 같은 사람. 사람 같은 공기.
Air Like People. People Like Air.
Thieves Series Two
A series of texts written for A Thief Knows A Thief Like A Wolf Knows A Wolf Like A Stone Knows A Stone exhibited at Shhh Project, Incheon, South Korea and NEW SPACE, Seoul, South Korea in 2022.
Chapter 1
A Feedback Loop, Handicap Access Ramps and File Browsing—The Time Thief (English)
순환 고리, 장애인 경사로, 파일 검색—시간 도둑 (Korean)
Chapter 2
The Somewhat New Yorker, His Neighbor and Two Identical Apartment Units—The Space Thief (English)
어느 정도 뉴요커, 그의 이웃과 두 개의 꼭 같은 아파트—공간 도둑 (Korean)
Chapter 3
Shyness is Nice and Shyness Can Stop You—A Thief Of Matter (English)
수줍음은 선하다, 그리고 수줍음은 당신을 멈출 수 있다—물질 도둑 (Korean)
A series of supplemental texts written for Narrative on Medium, Space B-E Gallery, Seoul, South Korea in the year 2022.
Thieves Series One
A series of texts written for Thieves Like Us, d / p, Seoul, South Korea in 2021.
The Civil Servant and His Only Sin—
The Cat Thief
A Man, His Truck, His Fruit and His Thoughts—
The Tree Thief
An Older Gentleman and His Slightly Younger Friends—
The Loneliness Thief
A Maintenance Man and His Two Jobs—
The Double Income Thief
Two Men, Their Religion, Their Music—
The Christian Thieves
A Woman, Her Mother, Her Boyfriend, His Father and Her Nose—
The Recipe Thief
Won Jinsang—
The Tree Thief
Gail Hillian Gustafson—
The Stomach Thief
Penelope Richardson—
The Hope Thief
Allan Wilberton Garcia—
The Angel Thief
다음은 이안 라이넘(Ian Lynam)이 2020년에 웨스트 덴 하그(West Den Haag)에서 큐레이팅 한 <라이팅, 라이팅(Writing, Writing)’>전시회를 위해 발표한 에세이, “지난 해. 과거와 미래 모두(Yesteryear. Both Past and Future)”의 편집본 입니다.
The following is an edited version of an essay, Yesteryear. Both Past and Future., originally published for the Writing, Writing exhibition curated by Ian Lynam at West Den Haag in the year 2020.
Standing and Sitting at the Same Time. (English)
서 있으면서 앉아 있기. (Korean)


























Catalogs and documentation for recent exhibitions.
Somewhere, Here Below, Somewhat Inside, Beneath It All Yet Close Enough To Hear, Sleeps Several Silent, Whispering, Slow Beating, Constant Nevertheless Sometimes Broken Hearts., The WilloW, Seoul, South Korea, 2024
Silent Laughter, A-Lounge Contemporary Art Space, Seoul, South Korea, 2023
A Place Between Rhythm and Rhythm, Choi Man Lin Museum, Seoul, South Korea, 2023
A Thief Knows A Thief Like A Wolf Knows A Wolf Like A Stone Knows A Stone, Shhh Project, Incheon, South Korea, NEW SPACE, Seoul, South Korea, 2023
Thieves Like Us, d/p, Seoul, South Korea, 2021





























©2008—2025. Chris Ro. All Rights Reserved.