Tag: korea (page 8 of 10)

Snapshots of Almost Contact

Melbourne-based new media artist, lecturer and all round soju-panda Larissa Hjorth, who is also undertaking an Asialink residency in Seoul (at Ssamzie Space in Hongdae), held an open studio the other night, to celebrate the completion of her “Snapshots of Almost Contact” project.

Please, consider …

Larissa Hjorth
Soju-Panda Eyes herself: actually, this shot was taken last month at the Sugar Bar in Hongdae but seeing as we ended up in exactly the same place the other night, there really is no difference.
An example of the kinds of works Larissa has been creating out of the distinctive Korean fabric pattern. Steve Jobs, look and learn …
Whilebird Chirpings, Seoul (2005).
Seoul’s best-kept secret, three-piece band the Whilebird Chirpings, featuring Jooyoung on keyboards, Matt on lead vocals and drums, and Bridget on lead guitar. Rumours of their imminent demise should be treated with alarm.
Bridget O'Brien, Seoul (2005).
Bridget O’Brien, an artist who moonlights as a staff reporter for the Korea Times, tries to point to a picture of her phone. Unfortunately, being height-challenged, she doesn’t quite achieve her objective. It’s the second from the right, Bridget.
A close-up shot of some of the phones Larissa photographed, together with their owners’ accessories (a must).
The money shot: ninety six phones, who knows how many text messages, conversations and self-portraits …

A poem/song by my Australian Culture students

“Aussie and We Korea”

One of the highlights of my Australian Culture classes was the series of student presentations which took place at the end of the semester.

In one of the final presentations, on the topic of Australian poetry (a topic that no one was really that keen to tackle), the students (including the cute koala pictured below) broke out into song, the lyrics of which I have presented below.

They also gave me a cd featuring an mp3 version of the song, which I have now uploaded here.

Aussie and we Korea

Thank you Prater for your class
Made us become Creator
oh My dear Prater.

Though I sometimes took a nap.
At least I know Phar lap.
Met I Kangaroo and oodgeroo.

No more nasty Vegemite.
I don’t want another bite.
No more ABC news tonight.

Now old ANZAC wowow
Thanks for comin’ at hard time.
From your land to end war crime.

As time goes by, We say good-bye.
Just one thing to remember.
We had great time from September.

Learning so far Australia
showed us who we really are.
Forever Aussie and we Korea.
Forever Aussie and we Korea.

I’m speechless.

7 steps to “I feel better (now)”

STEP 1: Go to the zoo

The photos from this highly amusing little jaunt were pretty funny (see previous post). Sure, the African animals looked out of place. Okay, the kangaroos were just lying around doing nothing. I accept also that the millions of school kids shouting “Hello!” and “Where are you going?” was a bit much to put up with. But the sight of a bear having a swim or a couple of giraffes hanging out – ah, it warms the cockles of me heart. That being said, it was difficult to decide whether the zoo was for wild animals or for the fields full of wild kids I saw during my traversal of the zoo.

STEP 2: Get invited to an art exhibition

I got the call from Moonsun at the Australian Embassy informing me of an exhibition of photos by an Australian and a Korean artist and accepted gladly. The opening was at the Daelin gallery quite close to where I’m staying and was peopled by all sorts of artsy types, Australian diplomats and hangers-oners (ie me). We drank Lindemans wine – I almost cried. Also, importantly, I met Alexie Glass, a fellow-Asialink resident, who was leaving the next day. We went out after the exhibition and met a few other people including another Asialink resident, Larissa Hjorth, who is staying at Ssamzie Space in Hongdae.

STEP 3: Rendezvous at “The Captain of Pirates”

The next evening, after dinner with some of my students, I met Alexie, Larissa and others again at the delightfully-named and ultra-weird “The Captain of Pirates” (captain pictured above). This tiny bar in Hongdae features an aquatic/ Navy Seals theme and serves nothing but raw fish and soju, by the looks of it. The group was already quite rowdy and the cast changed endlessly throughout the night. Highlight was a song by local rock stars Gang Sahnae (“River and Mountain”) and his drummer Lee Kee Tae, in honour of Alexie’s imminent departure.

A close second in terms of memorable moments was Lee Kee Tae and I wearing toilet paper headbands. Enough said.

STEP 4: Check out the opening of a new river

Granted, not an everyday experience but the brand-new and ultra urban-environmental statement that is the Chonggyechon project sent Seoul into a delirious state of silly-pride and fireworks admiration. Highlights included lasers projected onto buildings and crazy street stalls, while the lowligth was the police response to a protest by a group of physically-disabled Seoulites who were complaining about the lack of disabled access to the river. Here is the police response to this group, who were all wheelchair bound and in late middle age:

STEP 5: Drink more soju

On Sunday, I met up with Larissa again and blabbed on about lots of stuff, then met my friend Jess who had arrived from Beijing after attending a conference on the Trans-Mongolian Express. I took her to my favourite BBQ pork restaurant and we drank beer and soju until the wee hours. So good to hang out with friends!

STEP 6: Go to a spa

On Monday, which is the day Koreans celebrate the creation of the Korean landmass, Jess and I travelled 60 kilometres south of Seoul to Icheon, famous for its spa resort. Justifiably so: the place is massive. Men and women are separated and each spa complex contains ten or so different “flavoured” pools, my favourite being the herb mint, the rice wine and the elusive “charcoal” pool, all heated at approximately 40 degrees centigrade and guaranteed to sweat that soju out of you like you’re a monkey stuck in a wringer.

STEP 7: Get a good night’s sleep

That night, after having a few drinks to celebrate Jess’s birthday, I slept so soundly that I did not wake up once. Until morning that is, upon which I found that my headache was gone, my strees levels were sub-zero, and I had just experienced my most fantastic week yet in Seoul.