The Architecture of Animation: Sungnyemun's Cultural Fire, Materiality, and Han

Abstract

Fires —contained or uncontained—share one chemical property, which is “a rapid oxidation of a fuel through combustion, which releases heat, light, and flame.” This constant, invisible fueling process projects as a visible phenomenon consisting of carbon dioxide, water vapor, oxygen, and nitrogen. Through chemical reaction, fire leaves traces by physically altering the burning matter’s original properties. Chemist Hazel Rossotti calls this transformative process “the most technologically significant gift bestowed by fire,” where “fire is used as a major promoter of chemical change.” Here, animation occurs in two layers: the chemical spurts of fire and the metamorphosis of matter.