Typography Exhibit: Tokyo TDC Seoul 2012

Typography: known as the process or art of arranging types and printing from them. Basically evolving from writing stuff down to making it available to the masses. Certainly the history of typography is something of interest, but why not check into a gallery celebrating contemporary works in the medium?

I did just that with Stafford from The Chosun Bimbo this past weekend, and enjoyed a nice exhibit titled "Tokyo TDC Seoul 2012" at the Samwon Paper Gallery in Gunja, Seoul.

This was an interesting space as to one side was the gallery and the other a paper shop. However, this juxtaposition was appropriate and the layout of the show was thoughtful. For the most part artists were laid out by style, with books on tables, posters on the wall and design kits along the center.

You could get the most sense that this was about typography through the books on display, but for the most part it felt more like a design exhibit.

Most enjoyed was a space set up showing Bjork's recent album Biophilia and the typography and design associated with it. Accompanying the set up was a hand written and signed letter from the artist.

When entering the gallery we were told that it was okay to touch "everything" and take pictures too. So in a way this exhibit was a bit interactive where you could feel the paper and get to know the design.

After enjoying the typography exhibit we entered into the paper store to see what that was all about, which turned out be mostly paper. However, it made for some fun photography.

And so this event is going on through October till the 27th. If you are in the Gunja area or would like to get out to see something different, I would recommend a visit. Take exit 1 and this place is right there in front of you.

This gallery space is just another reminder of how the arts are sometimes tucked in and hidden away here in Seoul.

Damyang Bamboo Museum

After I ventured through the bamboo forest I decided it would be best to cool off in a museum. However the bamboo museum, 담양 대나무 박물관, was located a bit out of town so I took a taxi instead of walking over there. In fact I was comfortable getting around the area via taxi and it was fun getting to know local people this way, along with using some Korean.

The museum was definitely a quiet place to enter into with not many visitors. It is set up with a more historical and horticultural display at the ground floor. However, there wasn't much English to be seen. They had a display of bamboo stalks and roots.

Going on to the other exhibition rooms you started to see how bamboo is harvested and crafted using various tools.

Then you see products made from bamboo such as ordinary baskets to jewelry and other fancy items.

Those items in the lower right corner are meant to be attached to your steering wheel so you can turn it easily. However they certainly evoke other things.

The large woven baskets were quite a site to see as they were placed throughout the museum.

Te following diorama looked like a depiction of a bamboo market from long ago, I enjoyed the detail in the dress of the human models. Plus not to mention all those tiny baskets.

The Damyang Bamboo Museum was a pleasant place to visit, and certainly allowed one to get a breadth of how much bamboo can be used for. However, you don't really end up spending a lot of time in the museum and there wasn't really a cafe to enjoy yourself in either. Yet there were bamboo souvenir shops outside just in case you missed something at the forest.

I would recommend a trip to this museum on your time out in Damyang, anyways. If you would like more info on the museum and other sites to see follow this link.

Korean Art from the United States: Special Exhibition at NMK

It's been a few years since I last visited the National Museum of Art out in Yongsan. This summer has been hot lately and I figured it would be a good idea to cool off inside a museum, which has free entry. But mostly I wanted to see the last day of their special exhibit, "Korean Art from the United States." This exhibition was meant to show how Korean Art became popular in America and the breadth to which museums have Korean collections.

Major museums included, Museum Fine Arts Boston, LACMA (LA), Honolulu Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Since I worked at the Asian Art Museum for a little while when I was out of college, I figured it would be fun to see what they sent over.

It started off by letting us know that interest in Korean Art by Americans, started with pottery. Then as time passed people became more interested in religious relics.

The exhibition was broken up into this first display of works to set the tone and then for the rest of the show pieces were sectioned off into their appropriate museum. It was overall organized very well and the selection of pieces were varied and also quite charming.

In one section they had an area for one to see gallery books and other literature on Korean Art studies in America. It was fun to see the VHS in there alongside the books.

One piece I especially enjoyed was the following painting, which was highly detailed in execution.

Overall, it was a good show and unfortunately yesterday was it's last day. So I can't say that you should hop out and go see it. However, the museum has other special exhibitions going on plus the main hall of art is free to visitors. So why not head out there and cool off under some ancient art work.