Solution 264-274: Drill Nation

“What is luxury? Anything that is not essential to life and that, once everyone has it, is rather annoying.”
—Solution 264, “Public Poverty”

Having furnished solutions for Germany and Dubai, Ingo Niermann takes a new look at what nationhood can mean and accomplish today, finding inspiration, of all places, in North Korea. Now that the promise of global prosperity and abundance can technically be fulfilled, the time has come for a minimalist rethink of society. By relying on drills and a principle of reduction, the individual can be granted a freedom for experiences and ideas that are not possible otherwise. The more we simplify, the lighter the ballast we’ll have to carry.

The twelfth volume in the Solution Series includes an account of Niermann’s travels through North and South Korea, accompanied by the author’s photographs. The eleven solutions in ‘Solution 264–274: Drill Nation’ build from insights culled while on the trip.

Published to coincide with the Real DMZ Project 2015, curated by Sunjung Kim and Nikolaus Hirsch