Ain’t that the truth.
This was on my running route near the studio in Changdong. Whether it’s Konglish or not, there is a cybernetic point there, no? Goals, people. Goals.
No Aim, No Gain
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Spring Has Sprung!
Flowers are starting to bloom in Korea. Hurray!
Color. Finally.
On the way to pick up my fourth passport from the embassy—Oh the luxury of smelling and touching a crisp new passport!—even this bear agreed:
Yes, little bear. Yes, it is.
Fare thee well, the winter of our discontent.
Scaling Seoraksan
In Seoraksan, a mountain in the east of South Korea, it’s like a calligraphy painting that came to life. It was a grueling yet doable trek, with me giving high fives and fist bumps to the friendly elderly Korean people who regularly climb these mountains. It seemed as though they do it without breaking a sweat.
(I want to be an ajumma when I grow up. Such respect for these badass people who are so physically fit and look as though they just stepped out of a hiking catalog.)
It’s like a calligraphy painting that came to life!
I bet it will look beautiful in the fall. I bet that’s enough reason for me to go back.
Gorgeous.
There is nothing like getting physically and mentally pushed to my limits to power me through the second half of this residency. Hwaiting!
Rorsketch Hacks
I finally had some time to gather together the images from the workshop I did several weeks back. It’s nice to see them properly categorized and truly see the different perceptions of one cloud. Here is an example:
original cloud
I saw a dragon!
Here are the other things these art students saw in this cloud:
Head over to the Rorsketch website to see more of them, or follow the project’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. This project just won’t die. Woo!
The Eunuch Cemetery in the Backyard
On my street lies Choansan, a mountain that has thousands of tombs of aristocrats, eunuchs, and commoners from Korea’s Joseon era. After being sick for a few days and being stuck in a creative rut, I headed up there today to free my mind from the “stuckness,” as though being high up there can make me look down on my worries, as though physically meandering through the mountain can translate to mentally untangling my thoughts.
I can’t believe this is on my street.
No head! Uh oh.
The marker at the top told me a bit of the cemetery’s history, along with these odd words.
A Department of Eunuchs!
It is such a blessing to have so much nature in the middle of the cemented progressiveness of the city.
It feels like a scene from Bridge to Terabithia.
The romance and sadness of it was slightly marred by the mild absurdity (yet awesome practicality) of seeing exercise machines along the way.
Exercise machines amidst historical treasures. But of course in Korea.
It was a good afternoon.
Fly.
Korea and the Mythbusters Connection
While exploring Korea, which slowly becoming one of my favorite countries, I’m a bit fascinated at how it has little-known connections with The Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters, one of my favorite TV shows of all time. Here are two that have been stuck in my head for a while and required a blog post:
1. Hwacha
A hwacha is a weapon developed during the Joseon dynasty that can fire multiple rockets in one go. I found one on display at the King Sejong museum in Gwanhwamun station, though I’ve seen others in various places in Korea.
I hope it works.
The Mythbusters confirmed the hwacha’s effectiveness in the episode, “Alcohol Myths.”
2. Yellow Scream
Kim Beom, a Korean conceptual artist, has a 31-minute video where he demonstrates how to embed screams into a painting in a manner that imitates Bob Ross. I saw this in the Nam June Paik Art Center in Gyeonggi-do.
In Yellow Scream (2012), Kim discusses his materials, than proceeds to scream, “Aaah!” near the brush while he is applying the paint to the canvas. He adds screams of terror, confusion, agony, and even high-pitched ones of happiness.
Still from Kim Beom’s Yellow Scream (2012)
Still from Kim Beom’s Yellow Scream (2012)
Still from Kim Beom’s Yellow Scream (2012)
I was laughing by myself in the projection room. This will be one of my favorite art pieces of all time. Looking up Kim Beom online, I was happy to see that he also did graduate school in SVA, and even happier to know that he has a thing for clouds, too.
This reminded me of the Mythbusters episode when they asked whether ancient sounds could have been embedded into pottery. Alas, I couldn’t find a video, but they definitely busted that myth.
Buddhism in the Year 2013: Swastikas, Spirituality, and Smartphones
(Gyeonggi-do, South Korea) In Bubryunsa, a beautiful temple set in the mountains about two hours from Seoul, I was happy to participate in a temple stay with fellow artists. I was struck at seeing this swastika, used without the Nazi connotations, but to represent what it originally supposed to—auspiciousness, eternity, and Buddhism.
Beautiful!
Tae Min, the monk who guided us through a tea ceremony, meditation, and a tour of the temple grounds, made me smile when I saw that she has a smartphone. It’s the same one I have: a Samsung Galaxy S3.
Hello, fellow Android user!
Her phone’s cleaner had a Buddha on it.
Buddha!
We saw a lot of buddhas.
Each statue is carved out of one rock. They were made first and then the structure was built around them.
And I mean, a lot of buddhas.
Whoa, buddha, whoa.
But I think the statue I liked best was this one. He looks badass, and probably does martial arts.
A sword!
I leave you with this lovely rock balancing we came across. Peace, love, and get your Zen on.
Rock balancing!
Where Irish Dancing Meets K-pop: St. Patrick’s Day in Seoul
I loved this mash-up and I loved this kid.
(D-Cube City, Sindorim)—I had no idea St. Patrick’s Day was big in Korea. My favorite part was the ladies who mixed Irish dancing with K-pop, and the little kid with stripes who followed them. People had green balloons and could get free scones and nearly everyone was civilized and no one was vomiting. I love globalization.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, one and all!
White Day Sugar
Unofficial holidays meant for love are quite an event here in Seoul, with people filling out specific roles. In Confucian Korea, I’m quite pleased when people break out of the norm, or when I break it (usually out of ignorance of the custom) and they appreciate it anyway. (For example, last Valentine’s Day, when women are supposed to give out chocolates to the men of their desire, I handed out origami hearts to everyone I knew.)
The month after Valentine’s Day, March 14, may be Pi Day for those mathematically inclined, but here on this side of the world, it is also White Day, a day where it’s the men’s turn to give out hard candy to women they like. Like my belief in Valentine’s Day hacks, I appreciate it when guys do the same and hand out goodies to their friends.
My haul for my first White Day is chocolate from a married studiomate and lollipops from my taekwondo class. The four big lollipops are from Master Kim who handed out an entire box’s worth to the class while the two were from one of the kids. We may not know each other’s languages and have different opinions on eye contact, but hey, there are definitely other ways to communicate. This was, literally and figuratively, quite sweet.
White Day haul. Aww, shucks. ❤
Say it with sugar. Arigato and kamsahamnida, gentlemen!
The Day I Ate My Way through Jeonju
On the day I ate my way through Jeonju, chosen in 2012 as a Creative City for Gastronomy as part of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network, I went past a store with teddy bears…
A teddy bear on a bench. Of course.
…the Gyeonggijeon Portrait Shrine with King Taejo’s portrait…
Image via Wikipiedia, since we weren’t allowed to take photos of the actual portrait
…which made me wonder if his headpiece is the reason behind this Korean hat trend…
Devil hat. Or turkey hat, depending on how you look at it.
…and finally, oh finally, I made it to my bowl of Jeonju bibimbap.
Why, hello there, beautiful.
Delish.
Catherine Sarah Young 