Spring

"Spring" the figurative art co-designed by Swedish American Architect, Claes Oldenburg and his wife, Coosje van Bruggen, is standing at the beginning spot of Cheonggyecheon. This figure shaped from Indian seashell represents the motifs from Korean ceramic ware, Hanbok (Korean traditional costume), and the full moon that inspired the artists.

The Mysterious Country IRELAND

Earlier this evening I went to a photography exhibition entitled "The Mysterious Country IRELAND" by a Korean photographer. As a passionate lover of Ireland, I couldn't miss this chance. Korea is called Asian Ireland and Ireland European Korea. Some people put Italy for another counterpart. The elements for this allegory are taking big pleasure in singing, dancing, drinking and talking, and being hot-tempered.

Bike Rack

In Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall, there was an exhibition of public facilities with a touch of design. Instead of this fancy bike rack, however, I think we need more bicycle paths first.

Closed

Fusion, or even dare I say it, hybrid. English characters written with Chinese ink on Korean paper.

* Place: a craftwork shop in Insadong

Hammering Man

Heungguk Life Insurance Bldg is one of my favourite spots in Seoul. I mostly go directly to the cinematheque in basement and this place is such refreshment to me when I have got a desire to escape even for a short while.

This big art figure is "Hammering Man," with 23 metres height and 7 tons in weight, by Jonathan Borofsky, American sculptor. This man is also standing in Dallas, Seattle and Frankfurt. I know I should have had a more exposure time but I had to run not to miss the beginning of the film, "Inland Empire" by David Lynch.

Mao Zedong

In the book I'm currently reading, "우리가 몰랐던 동아시아(meaning 'East Asia We Haven't Known', written by Noja Park, 2007), there is a chapter comparing Mao Zedong/ Ho Chi Minh and Kim Ilseong. They have one thing in common: founding fathers of modern East Asian countries. However, the author seeks for a reason why it is not easy to find a biography about Kim Ilseong comparing to easy access to biographies about other two leaders.

Apart from the two Koreas' relations, the writer questions why even mainstream scholars in Western countries are neutral and/or favourable to other two leaders but hostile to Kim Ilseong. In brief, he says they have different growth backgrounds and policy lines: higher education vs military service and political leader vs military leader. Therefore, Kim Ilseong's ideology is based on his specific experience unlike others' on their philosophical reasoning, and the phase of North Korea, Kim Ilseong the Patriarch in DPRK the Family Country, has led to a barrier of favourable reactions by Western society, where Individualism prevails, he concludes.

The poster is about Park Sang Hee's sculpture exhibition, "Hello, 마오쩌뚱(Mao Zedong)!"