sundriedstrawberries

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Friday, we traveled to Paju to visit DNDLine group and to meet Molly Kim and some of her students from Chugye University for the Arts. This was a lovely moment to befriend more students and learn more about university life in Seoul. DNDLine was also VERY excited to meet us NAU students. They made a banner and an impressive summary video for us showing what their company does. The company specializes in practical effects for movies and TV shows. Some notable Korean content I recognized in their portfolio were Exhuma, Bloodhounds, and Sweet Home! They explained their process for doing work with a suspension cable, fake rain, making wind, creating fog, and tossing cars for action scenes by showing us a real life demo for each!

I knew a lot of work had to go into creating special practical special effects, but in reality it's even harder! Even a fake rain shower requires a lot of set up. Witnessing the process in real life gives me a new appreciation for practical effects in media.

The individuals at DNDLine were very kind to us. They welcomed us with a banner, goodie bags, snacks, and a very entertaining welcome video. Thank you DNDLine!

☀️🍓

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On Thursday morning, we went to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul. The museum was full of different exhibits. My personal favorite art pieces were the paintings. So many of them played with texture and scale. Large paintings with exposed canvas was overwhelming to me as a fine arts painting major. Due to time or money constraints, I wouldn't dare to leave the white of my canvas exposed or dedicate so many materials to building a canvas. Large paintings have an inherent element of commitment. Covering a vast space like that is so daunting that I have a deep respect for anyone who is able to achieve it.

Many of the paintings on display were centered around the theme of personhood an what it means to exist as a human. Being a human means living in a world that has existed longer than you have. Being a human means coming into a life that's already living.

I don't have any pictures from this time because my phone ran out of storage...but I was able to find time to clear up some storage for our next stop: the Leeum!

The Leeum was incredible. There are three parts to the building, separated by era: the Past, the Present, and the Future. The past consists of ceramic work, painted scrolls, and illuminated manuscripts from Korea's Three Kingdoms era, the Koguryo era, and the Joseon Dynasty. My favorite work was this Buddha triad.

The present is by artists whose works are focused on current affairs. I wasn't struck by this one the same as the others, but perhaps that is expected. This light fixture filled with black feathers was interesting to me. It seemed to be a commentary on how there is still light and shape in darkness.

The future is a collection of artworks that are difficult to understand because they are so abstract. Some of the artworks within the future category have a peculiar or uncanny tone to them.

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On Monday, we went to Cheonju to visit the Hanok houses. Hanok is the Korean word to describe traditional Joseon era style. These houses are similar to old Chinese and Japanese buildings, but they still have their own distinct personality. They are not as pointy and sharp as the Japanese buildings, and they are not as ornate as Chinese ones. They are colorful and more square in structure. Our professors explained that peasants and normal people did not live in these types of buildings. This architecture was specifically made for totally. This experience was very fun, but what I found interesting wasn't just the Hanok houses, it was the nearby cathedral. The cathedral, part of Korea's even more recent history, looks over the Hanok houses. Seeing the cathedral from within the Hanok grounds was a bit jarring.

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On Saturday morning, we visited the Seosomun Shrine History Museum. It was very interesting to learn about Christian, specifically Catholic, missionary service in South Korea. The Catholic religion was initially persecuted, and several parts of the museum encourage the viewer to ponder their sacrifice and learn from them as Catholics.

Saturday afternoon, the art curator Lee Somi gave us an art tour. We traveled to a historical area in Euljiro that was covered in artistic graffiti. The area was old, so there were many places with a more classic look, like a barber shop, hair salon, and a used goods shop. The area has a lot of used good stores dedicated to specific things like old video players or speakers. It's useful to artists who frequent the area because of how many trinkets are around. Because the area is also affordable compared to other areas in Seoul, it's where a lot of artists live or have their personal galleries and studios. While visiting, we went to three different galleries/exhibits in this area.

The first exhibit we visited in this area was "Dew Point" by Young Ho Jeong. This consisted of several photographs reduced to enlarged RGB pixels. The photographs depicted different instances of emotional connection between two individuals. The moments were sweet, but unclear in detail. To me, it felt like the exhibit was playing off of the idea of "perception." How people perceive things differs from one person to the next. A shared memory is experience differently between two people, so the overlap is a vague outline.

The next exhibition we viewed was "Home Sweet Home" by Park Yooah. I found the exhibit to be unnerving and surreal. Park Yooah worked hard to invite the viewer into her paintings of a home. Important bits and pieces of the home were painted with Korean paints on paper adhered to canvas. It is likely that these moments are points of emotional intensity.

The last exhibit was "Enriching Light, Manifested Image" by Si Nansl. This exhibit was focused on exploring the existence of light, but what I found interesting was that light was not used at all to create these art pieces. Si Nansl managed to recreate the emotional effect of light with transparent sheets of fabric and image shifting prints. To me, the use of these materials seemed to simulate the ever-changing, fragile nature of light.

This older Euljiro area is expected to be torn down and rebuilt over the incoming years, so I appreciate that we were able to experience the culture and artists in the area before the demolition.

As an artist, it was also important to me that we were exposed to how an art career can look. For a long time, all I have ever been aware of were museums and public galleries and festivals/conventions for artists to sell and exhibit their work. I was not aware of art collectives or personal art galleries. I appreciate learning about something feasible for myself.

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Yesterday, we went to Lotte World and Lotte Tower.

Unfortunately, we ran into some bumps for this schedule. It rained almost all day, and it remained cloudy for the entire day. It was super unlucky!

However, not all was lost. We couldn't see the city line on the horizon up in Lotte Tower, but it was very cool to see the white void of clouds, and the city, distant below. The tower is so impressive. It's a bit difficult to conceptualize just how high up you are while at the top.

Inside the tower is also very cool. There are different art installations and new media works displayed throughout the tower, making it fun just while traveling to the elevators.

Lotte World might have seemed like an epic fail, but the experience was fun because I was with some friends! We were very eager to go on the rides, so we rushed outside to get in the queue. After about an hour of waiting, we heard thunder. Seconds later, it began raining very hard. The floor was starting to flood, and they closed the ride. we hurried back to the indoor part of the amusement park, but we arrived absolutely drenched in rain, giggling at our bad luck.

We weren't able to ride any roller coasters, but we did get to go on the monorail, the carousel, and a cool boat ride. Overall, the experience was as fun as it could get on a rainy day!

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Thursday was big on opportunities. We had three opportunities total.

The first was the opportunity to offer constructive criticism and feedback to Ewha's interior design students. I felt bad because, as a painting student, I lacked the interior design vocabulary that helps facilitate feedback. I tried my best to offer direction and suggestions for visuals and color use. In my opinion, spaces intended for use by human people must be easily readable to elderly, colorblind folk, or anyone else with visual impairments.

The second opportunity was to see the architectural work of Professor Jieun Lee, an Ewha Professor. We traveled to Myeongdong to Re Rh'ee, a fashion brand worn by many Korean celebrities such as AESPA. Jieun Lee and Junebok Rhee, the fashion designer behind Re Rh'ee, were close friends with my professor ever since they were in school together. I think it's cool that all three of them are successful differently. Professor Jieun Lee explained that the concept behind the establishment was to preserve the rough interior that was already there. The walls and ceilings are the originals from before the store set up inside. The rest of the concept was to fuse both nature and city together by bringing in traditional Korean garden elements. Inside the building, there is a small garden that customers can walk around while they are perusing.

For the third opportunity, I had the chance to ask Junebok Rhee about the color choices in his designs. Many of the designs were ranged from greens to blue, and I was curious what the reason was. He explained that it was the Re Rh'ee signature color. I had bought a jacket while there, and he explained that the jacket's color was intended to match the concrete ceiling of the building. I thought this was excellent! It's wonderful that the building itself can provoke inspiration to the designer who fills it.

Both Jieun Lee and Junebok Rhee were clearly passionate about their occupations. That sort of passion makes me want to pursue my passions further, too.

☀️🍓

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On Wednesday, we took a trip to Chandeokgung's "Secret Garden." The walk was tough and hot, but would likely suite anyone who hikes regularly. I personally do not like hiking, but the views here made all the walking worth it. The Netflix series "Kingdom" was also filmed here, so we got to see some of the key filming spots.

Our next program of the day was to join Ewha University's sculpture students for a wood-carving workshop. We made chopsticks! At first, the carving process was difficult for me to understand. I do not have much strength in my arm, but the process requires steady arm strength. The sculpture students explained that the wood we were carving wasn't great, so perhaps I could be better under the right conditions. All the work from the students was incredible, so I feel inclined to believe their words.

I made some very cool friends during that workshop, and I hope to see them again soon.

On the way out, we saw some festivities from Ewha's school festival! One of the sculpture students had told me about the festival vendors and some activities, but I wasn't expecting the parade! We lingered around after the program in order to watch the parade march down the hill, past the ECC, and over to the field next to us.

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Yesterday, we visited Ewha University. We met one of the faculty for the sculpture classes, and a sculpture student gave us a comprehensive tour of the campus. My favorite area was the ECC, a marvelous work of architecture made for student classes and student relief. There are stores which we visited. The merchandise for the school is beautiful. The school colts are green and white, and the school mascot is a plum blossom. There are also relaxing locations for tired students. That was the most impressive part of the ECC in my opinion. The support for students was admirable.

Later, I had the chance to talk to the sculpture student from before. She spoke English very well, which I was thankful for. As a child, she had gone to an international school, so she learned both English and Korean. I wish I had learned a second language.

This is not the ECC, it is a classroom building with a theater inside. I did not get a photo of the ECC, but this building's architecture is impressive in a different way. The style is old with religious aspects. The sculpture student explained that the building was once bomded and then rebuilt. I didn't see the bullet marks she had mentioned, but the difference in brick is noticeable.

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This morning, we went to Gyeongbukgeong Palace with fashionable (rented) hanboks. The King Sejeong statue near the main gate was incredible. Jae, our professor, explained how he was the reason that the Korean alphabet exists. Chinese was the common language around the time of King Sejeong, but it was not easy to read or write. This king, motivated to have a more literate kingdom, decided to create a simple to read and easy to pronounce alphabet.

I particularly liked the pavilion in the center of the lake deeper into the palace. Bodies of water help me feel calm, and the area around it is usually cool in temperature. It is nice to see nature and greenery when in the center of a busy city. The ajumma who owns the Korean restaurant in my hometown explained that she didn't really like Seoul because of its "bali bali" or "빨리 빨리" culture. The phrase translates to "hurry hurry," referring to the fast pace of the city. The forested areas in Gyeongbokgung Palace provide a nice change of pace. I also had wanted to see the library, but we did not have time. It is interesting because of its atypical architecture. I hope to see it again soon.

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The week before the start of this trip, I was drowning in anxiety. Finals and family affairs may have contributed to the anxiety, but I know it's because of my own expectations for traveling. I have been to South Korea before. The first time, it was a leap of faith. I traveled without knowing anyone, and did just fine. I was excited by the idea of being in a place that no one i knew had ever been. This time, I wanted to be confident. I had rehearsed everything before even stepping foot in the airport. This trip is important to me. It feels like a sort of test of strength--- can I really face the world confidently? How can I make it better than last time?

Last time I had traveled to South Korea, the sky was full of clouds. I never once saw the ocean beneath the plane. This time there were expanses of clear sky. The sky and the sea look the same from up here. The distant clouds would sometimes line up with the wing of the plane, creating a white band sandwiched between blue.

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