—
“Volume” is a frame that organizes my life story,
like a diary.
Rather than deeply focusing on a single event
like the Affinity Kissena or Anchor Neocot,
this series is more like a tutorial—
a comprehensive summary of multiple moments and experiences.
First,
Volume Visa
represents my childhood.
The first bicycle I truly enjoyed riding,
a time when cycling was fun for no particular reason.
Because nothing major happened,
a lot of white space remains on the frame.
It was the purest time of my life.
—
Volume Cutter
This frame is the first work
in which I brought my sense of lack—
my deficiency—out into the world.
records my middle and high school years.
A time when I gave up on dreams for the first time,
was ignored,and experienced bullying.
The stars represent
the bare minimum of people
I loved and needed.
The flowers, the scars,
and the word “happiness” engraved on my wrist
are memories left on my body from that period.
—
Volume Thrasher
tells the story of my adulthood.
To appear fine on the surface,
I covered the color that symbolizes blood
with white—
just as I did in real life.
But this white peels away
the more the bike is ridden.
It shows that deficiency
can never truly be hidden.
—
All three bicycles share common elements:
grass on the downtube, a house,
repeating yellow and black patterns,
a rabbit, and flowers.
The yellow and black pattern indicates
how difficult it is for me
to bring out the story of that bicycle.
So in Thrasher,
which symbolizes reconciliation,
the yellow-and-black warning is reduced
and remains only on the hub.
This represents
understanding my deficiency
and making peace with it.
The grass symbolizes freedom during the time spent riding.
The house represents my own world.
The rabbit represents moments
when I hurt others to protect myself.
The flowers criticize modern society,
where life is treated lightly
in the pursuit of pleasing others.
—
These frames
are records left behind
to prevent wounds from being repeated,
and stories about moving forward
together with deficiency.
Hello.
This is Five-set.
It’s my first time greeting you like this.
Nice to meet you.
I will soon be enlisting in the military,
and my design work will be paused for a while.
So today, as a way of organizing everything in between,
I’m leaving this record.
To me, a bicycle
is a medium through which I reveal myself to the world—
quietly, sometimes without being noticed.
Even among people,
I often felt alone,
and whenever that feeling came,
I rode my bike.
On a bicycle,
I didn’t have to speak.
I didn’t have to belong anywhere.
Over the next two weeks,
I’ll be returning with content that shares
the stories I haven’t been able to tell until now.
Thank you.
