Hello. I want to tell you more about Byulbyul Sangjong(The Constellation of Singularities) today.

Last year I was thinking about flowers blooming on mountains. This year I've been looking up from flowers to stars.

Byulbyul Sangjong is something I made up. It came from the Korean saying yuyu sangjong (類類相從)—birds of a feather flock together but it means the opposite. Instead of similar things clustering together, it's about different stars shining side by side, each keeping its own color and light.

The attitude running through my monochrome [Mountain] series, the [Earth] series on Jangpan, and now Byulbyul Sangjong is a form of introverted resistance, a quiet refutation of the currents of our time. In a world saturated with stimulating visuals and images consumed at breakneck speed, I have chosen to carve out my own space and energy, moving at my own pace.

Right now we live in a world where platforms and algorithms sort us into categories. Everything is connected, supposedly, but somehow individual color gets washed out. Algorithms decide what we see. And conflicts? They seem to get worse, not better.

The world is flattening out, becoming "Superflat," you could say. But I think what we need more than ever is pluralistic coexistence. A way for distinct, singular things to exist together and create harmony without losing what makes them themselves.

I started using the term Byulbyul Sangjong in my drawings a few years back. It sat with me for a long time. Then it met Jangpan, this material I work with, and suddenly it became a language I could actually speak through my work.

What I'm after isn't connection that smooths everything over. It's harmony that lets each thing keep its sparkle, its particular color. A flatness, yes, but one where difference still exists.

That's Byeubyul Sangjong. The Constellation of Singularities.

This harmony I'm talking about isn't just conceptual. It happens in the material too. The concept of soil, fire, heat, Jangpan hanji, the paper that's literally underfoot in Korean homes, they all come together on one surface. There's tension there, and balance. A quiet kind of harmony.

Murakami's Superflat means something to me, but I'm doing something different. I'm not trying to eliminate differences. I want a flatness where each star still shines in its own way, where connection happens without erasure.

A universe with no center, no edge. Where every light counts.

Living in Singapore makes this feel very real to me. It's not abstract. Here, difference doesn't disappear, it's constantly being worked out. Harmony comes from coexistence, not sameness.

How do you stay yourself in a world that keeps pushing everyone toward the same shape? 

I'd genuinely like to know what you think.

안녕하세요 :)
오늘도 별별상종 이야기를 조금 더 해보려 합니다.

별별상종은 ‘유유상종’에서 힌트를 얻었지만, 그와는 정반대에 있습니다.
유유상종이 비슷한 것끼리 모이는—어쩌면 조금은 배타적인 개념이라면,
별별상종은 서로 다른 별들이 각자의 색과 반짝임을 유지한 채
함께 조화를 이루는, 보다 포용적인 세계를 말합니다.

제 작업 단색화, 산 시리즈,
장판화, 흙 시리즈,
그리고 별별상종을 관통하는 태도는 
사실 시대의 흐름에 대한 내향적인 저항,
혹은 조용한 반박에 가깝습니다.

자극적인 이미지들,
빠르게 소비되는 콘텐츠,
속도에 떠밀려 흘러가는 일상 속에서
저는 제 페이스를 지키며 작업해오고 있습니다.
가끔은 거북이 같다고 느껴질 때도 있지만요 🐢
쉬어가는 듯, 한 템포 느린
저다운, 하나미다운 방식으로요.

지금 우리가 사는 세상은
네트워크와 플랫폼, 알고리즘이 개인을 분류하는 사회입니다.
연결을 끊임없이 요구하지만,
수많은 미디어 소비 속에서
정작 개인의 색은 점점 희미해지고
선택은 알고리즘에 의해 결정됩니다.
사회적 갈등은 오히려 더 깊어지고 있는 것처럼 보이기도 합니다.

이렇게 점점 ‘수퍼플랫’해지는 세상에서
제가 더 중요하다고 느끼는 것은
각자의 개별성과 고유함 이 지워지지 않은 채
함께 존재하는 다원적 공존입니다.

‘별별상종’은 사실 몇 년 전,
제 드로잉에서 처음 등장한 단어입니다.
오랫동안 무르익어온 이 믿음이
장판이라는 물성을 만나
비로소 하나의, 저만의 언어가 된 것 같습니다.

차이를 지워버리는 획일화된 연결이 아니라,
각자의 색과 반짝임을 유지한 채 이루는 조화.
그것이 제가 작업하는 별별상종입니다 ✨

여러분은 어떤 색으로, 잘 반짝이고 계신지요?

별별상종에 관하여

30.01.2026

BBSY: Byul-Byul Sang-Jong 

별별상종 星星相從

A constellation within SANN-HEUK 

© 2025 Hannami Kim