In a recent textile work by artist Young Grace Cho, a meju block — the starting point for making doenjang, a fermented soybean paste — is shown suspended in the foreground, embroidered and embedded in a sinuous collage that includes stitched text from Yang Joung’s The Rise of Korean Miso…

It’s early August in Lessac, France. This far into the dog days of summer most are lounging in shady parks or taking a day trip down to the beach, but in the middle of Domaine de Boisbuchet’s 150-hectare campus nearly 50 people are working diligently to lay thousands of bricks.