Teason
Sejung Hwang
In the past, Koreans used a calendar that was ill-suited for agricultural society, in turn, they created the 24 Jeolgi time-keeping system: 24 seasonal divisions lasting for 15 days. On the first day of every Jeolgi, people ate special food, drank a special beverage, and did specific activities to celebrate the day. Eventually, the conventional western calendar system was adopted and the 24 Jeolgi was forgotten. Teason reintroduces the Jeolgi calendar by linking it to drinking a cup of tea every day — bridging the gap between past and present. 365 tea bags act as the basis of the calendar—341 of them are everyday tea bags and 24 of them are loose leaf teas that indicate the beginning of each Jeolgi. Each tea is named for when it was picked during the 24 Jeolgi, is color-coded, and includes a description of the seasonal division. The packages may be combined to create an array that shows longer durations of time. In this way experiencing Teason invites people to reflect on past cultures and how time may be marked by a calendar in many different ways.