Tatsuo Miyajima's site-specific artwork, 〈Mine of Time〉(2026), is featured at M650 Museum a newly opened cultural space dedicated to Korea’s industrial heritage and the lives of coal miners in Sabuk, Jeongseon.
Titled “Mine of Time”, the work responds to the 40-metre corridor leading into the former Sabuk Mining Complex, where thousands of miners once descended each day to support their families and contribute to the nation’s industrial development. The ceiling is illuminated by 240 tricolour LEDs, evoking the process of coal igniting, burning, and reaching its highest temperature through red, orange, and yellow light. Their blinking rhythms and distribution were developed with reference to interviews with surviving miners and their families, as well as archival materials. Guided by the intermittent light, visitors move through the corridor, tracing the irreversible transformation of fossil energy into light and heat. Through the work Miyajima connects the passage of time with the labour of generations of miners, whose efforts continue to illuminate our lives today.
