Gran’ Tools Supply, presented at Reset Atelier, Brussels, 2024,
Pine wood, stoneware ceramic, aluminum plate, wire, leather thread, cotton thread, cardboard.

1kg of cardboard is sold for between 5 to 10 cents at junk yards in Korea. Senior citizens who scavenge and resell waste boxes are known as “Cardboard grannies”. Due to the lack of savings, family support, sufficient pension, or social security income, selling cardboard is their only means of subsistence.

Nomi, an 87-year-old woman, lives alone in the remote village of Mari-Myon in Geochang, South Korea. In October 2023, she harvested 800 kg of rice from her field. She possesses unique knowledge about the wind patterns in her field, which she learned through her own experiences and ancestral wisdom. The farming tools she uses have become too worn-out to function properly. However, she is reluctant to replace them with new ones, considering it wasteful at her age.

‘Women of the sea’, Haeneo, refers to the female divers from Jeju Island in South Korea. Their livelihood is harvesting a variety of seafood from the ocean. The documentary “Breathing Underwater” features an 87-year-old lady diver who expresses her profound love and fear for the sea. Although they worry about never returning home from the dive, their unwavering desire is to take their final breath beneath the surface of the water.

The Grand Tool Supply presents sculptures that can be used as functional tools for working grandmothers, who are likely to persist in their work until the very end of their lives. Whether driven by unfamiliarity with rest, powerful urge to support her offspring, necessity to secure livelihood, or simply the desire to pursue their work, these sculptures cater to their tireless efforts.