KIAF 2011

 

You wouldn't know there were so many galleries in Korea until you stepped into the Korean International Art Fair.  Dozens of galleries representing Korean artists were set up at the festival along with many more from other nations. I have been to the KIAF a few times in the past (here and here) and each time it felt like a different experience.

Since I didn't attend last year's I was really looking forward to going. What I expect when I go is to see a variety of art from around Asia, and to have a good time mingling amongst art enthusiasts. 

However, after I entered the exhibition hall for some reason my excitement fell flat. Maybe it was because there were a lot of people already there at 11am (unlike in 2009). Or perhaps I just had a feeling things had changed.

Thankfully, my first reaction started to melt away as I looked through the galleries. Immediately I was impressed at the amount of sculpture within the spaces.

Do forgive me for not providing the artist's names. I know I should have written them down as I photographed them.

Yet, I did try to photograph the name with the object. I found these sculptures particularly enjoyable as the shadows were quite nice.

If you are wondering whether photography was allowed, well everyone was practically doing it and with their iPhones. Some gallery owners would go up to you and request no photos. I kindly deleted the pictures from ones that did this.

Some galleries had wall hangings of famous Asian artists that I recognized like Yayoi Kusama, Yoshitomo Nara and Lee U Fan. I did feel gleeful standing in front of them and examining them close up.

 Video art was presented, although rather scant. The following one was a stop-motion of plastic soldiers messing around near a bed of kimchi.

I always have a fondness for this kind of Japanese painting, mostly because I just love the absurdity of the content.

In the following works it appeared that glass mini-blobs were affixed to the painting. The little pearl of lights that resonated from them were quite appealing. What I noticed too, after standing there a while, was how the movement of people were reflected in these little drops. I wanted to capture it on video but should have brought my monopod.

The whimsical was there to be seen as well, especially in the following sushi-trucks and a large sculptural piece made from go-stop cards.

The following sculpture was quite fun to photograph...

Every year the KIAF hosts a guest country and this time it was Australia. However, as much as I enjoyed stepping into their space and getting a sense for Australian art it didn't have the same vibe as year's past.

I recall when India was being hosted they set them up with one large space and not segmented walls. This time Australia got their own space but things were still segmented. I would have rather enjoyed it put together in a context of some sort.

One Australian gallery had the following sound-art piece. The digital display was a rendering of a wave, while the speakers played real ocean-wave audio. I mostly enjoyed the craftsmanship of this piece, as I have tried sound art in the past.

The following is a sculpture made from mirrors and had a great reflective quality to it.

There are 2 halls at the COEX convention center that housed the KIAF, hall A and B. When I went into Hall B I was greeted by a large section dedicated to some cafes. 

I took a seat at one of the tables at the corner and enjoyed some rest. Although I didn't buy anything I felt safe sitting there. Then a Korean woman sat down at my table with a nod first. A little while later two of her friends came by and she called them over, they did have cafe stuff with them. They engulfed my table like I wasn't even there. I made a sour face and got up, while the original woman said, "Sorry" in quite an insincere way. I huffingly moved myself to another free table, while sitting down and giving them the stink eye.

This experience completely ruined my visit. I didn't have the passion to see the rest of the exhibitions and so left. However, there were personal matters also overshadowing this so maybe that is the main reason.

All together, the festival was a delight and something I might try out again next year. Unfortunately if you folks want to catch it the venue is already over. So I would suggest heading to local galleries and checking this out in 2012.

Hair & Joy = Best Place to get a Hair Cut

When it comes to getting your hair cut in Korea I have been here and there trying to find the best place. My needs are a bit different as I have naturally curly hair and don't want someone to style it up after the cut. I just want someone who knows what they are doing and enjoys it too. Places I have had my haircut include: EunhaBNC in Gangnam, Zen Art (cut it way too short), and EunhaBNC in Ewha. All of which got the job done but I never really went back or felt that confident in the hairdresser.

From recommendations and a little research I heard about Hair&Joy in Hongdae, and so figured why not give them a shot.

The Review:

• Feel of the Salon: The place was very modern and clean. It looked like the kind of salon that is hip but also relaxing to sit in. JH and I arrived a little early and were seated and offered juice to drink. The place seems highly outfitted for doing hair-dying so if you need that done looks like they are ones to do it. 
• English: The English website and the exchanged English words on the phone were enough to convince me that this place wasn't new to serving foreign clientele. Inside they even had English language popular magazines for you to browse and most of the staff spoke English, including my hairdresser.
• Haircut Experience: I was seated down for my consultation, which was brief but the hairdresser seemed to get what I was requesting (long layers and try to thin out the hair in the back of my head). Next I got the usual hair wash treatment, but this came with an extra scalp massage which was quite refreshing. After being sat back down for the hair cut I watched as the hairdresser (a guy) carefully and with precision cut my hair. After awhile we finally chit-chatted with each other. He asked me about how I style my hair, and wanted to know if I usually straighten it, which I don't. He dried my hair and then checked it again to see if it was allright cutting here and there. I have to say I think he might have been too cautious, but the haircut did come out allright and satisfying. 
• Will I go back? Yes! The place had many other foreign clientele, including a kid and an older lady. In other words, I could tell this was the hidden secret of hair salons in Seoul to go to. My hairdresser gave me his business card so I now know who to go to when I return. Also the price of everything was VERY reasonable and so much cheaper than back home.
• Should you go? Yes again! I would say just go straight to this place and don't mess with one that may or may not speak English. From what I hear JunoHair has a good reputation, as illustrated by EatYourKimchi. But that is a franchise, and who knows if the JunoHair in your neighborhood will be hit or miss. I saw men at the salon too, so guys you can look forward to a good cut at this place. Ladies! ... My hairdresser was pretty hot, I have to say, and I did my best to clamp down on my blushing since JH was a breath away. But for you single gals...you will definitely get a kick out of the cute male-staff at the salon. haha

How do you get there?? You can check the website for more details or just read below:

Take exit 8 from Hongik University Station
(located on both subway line 2 and the new AREX Airport Express Line).

Cross the street, turn right and walk to the intersection.
Turn left. On your left is the colorful Lotte Cinema.
We are located on the right side of the street.
Follow the pink “HAIR & JOY” sign to the 3rd floor.

For more info, call Johnny
Mobile: 010-5586.0243

Phone: 02-363.4253

**Sorry I didn't get pictures as the camera was left at home.**
However! I took one before my shower this evening....here is what I look like...

Secret Garden (시크릿 가든): Drama Review

source

Imagine if you will two young Korean couple, one male and very rich the other female and poor, that just happen to switch bodies. Can you see that happening?

That is exactly what happens in the recent Korean drama Secret Garden, which I happen to be watching. I haven't finished it, but I am halfway through. I'll be honest that I haven't been into the K-dramas that much lately due to American ones grabbing all my attention. Plus after watching a little of Boys Before Flowers I started to grow a distaste for it. I really hate it how the female lead character ended up going from a tough-independent person to a soft-apologetic little thing. As I started to watch Secret Garden I feared that this was going to happen all over again. Thankfully, the lead female character in this story pretty much stays a tough chick (so far).

The Characters: source

Gil Ra Im

Played by: Ha Ji Won

Character: The main female role. Feisty and has a street spirit to her, Gil Ra Im shows no mercy towards the male lead who tries hard to bring her into his heart. Her day job is being a stunt woman so you can imagine she is pretty fierce.

Kim Joo Won

Played by: Hyun Bin

Character: Main male lead here who likes to wear fancy track-suits (hand-stitched) and chase Gil Ra Im. Has claustrophobia and a bossy attitude. CEO of a wealthy department store.

"Oska"

Played by: Yoon Sang Hyun

Character: He is the cousin of Joo Won, so naturally he is rich as well. An aging "Hallyu" pop star who faces his career taking a nose dive. Has a heart-broken past with another character. Comes off as cheerful and more free-spirited than his cousin. 

 

Yeun Sol

Played by: Kim Sa Rang

Character: Watch out guys! This gal is looking for the perfect marriage. She is actually a film director and so you see her trying to make films for Oska. But due to their past relationship things become bumpy. What I love most is seeing her rich-ass cry over her breaking heart...(sorry).

Im Jong Soo

Played By: Phillip Lee

Character: He is the stunt school's director and so has a big influence on Gil Ra Im's life. He secretly loves her but is never man enough to tell her (so far). Makes for complications and a love triangle. 

There are plenty of more characters but these are the main players. The other people you see are Joo Won and Oska's parents, friends of Gil Ra Im and some other lively characters thrown in. 

Formula:

The story and whole formula for this drama is pretty out there but still adheres to traditional drama algorithms.

Typically, a Korean drama takes a young couple and makes them hate each other at the beginning. Then for some random reason they have to be next to each other practically all of the time. Usually they have to lie about each others relationship to keep their social and family lives smooth. Eventually they fall in love and the last part of the series ends with them finding each other, after being torn apart, and swearing they will never leave each other ever again. 

Beautiful isn't?

Well I can tell you that gets really boring, very quickly. Secret Garden's formula is somewhat like this but the DNA has changed a bit. 

Joo Won finds himself attracted to Gil Ra Im and can't get her out of his head. Gil Ra Im doesn't really fall for him like he does for her, but there are times when she finds herself feeling something. At the beginning of the drama they kind of weave this out for 5 episodes until finally their bodies are switched.

Body Switching! Oh my!

I found it quite whimsical and interesting that the creators of this drama took on body switching. For one there are so many gender and sexual taboos in Korean culture that this kind of story-plot has room to play with. What happens when they discover that they are in each others body is really quite amusing.

The guy reacts by being in the girls body by instantly noticing he has breasts. The girl reacts the same way when she realizes she is a man. It is an interesting play on gender roles and there are times when things almost cross a social barrier. However, the creators of this drama kept things light and fluffy in regards to any kind of social commentary.

The body switching scenarios were mostly playful with one instance where Gil Ra Im (inside the man's body) had to show her switched partner how to put on a bra.

 Don't worry no one walks in on this situation.

They stay switched for quite sometime and end up messing up each others lives. Yes they do switch back, and I won't tell you why, but afterwards the tone of the story becomes more serious. 

Throughout the story Joo Won's mother finds out about his relations with Gil Ra Im. Of course she isn't pleased as Ra Im is completely out of his class. During the body switching she even tried to bribe Gil Ra Im to stay away from her son, but since the person she was really talking to was her son (in Gil Ra Im's body) she ended up toyed with.

After the switch reversal there was an intense scene where his mother called back Gil Ra Im to finally get rid of her. At one point Joo Won walked in and declared that she couldn't get rid of Gil Ra Im

Commentary on Social Class and Standards

His mother berated Gil Ra Im for being poor and daring to think about belonging to her class. The whole scene reminded me of how with my first Korean boyfriend I wasn't truly accepted because I wasn't Korean. 

This is about where I am at in the drama. To sum up the story plot you have a rich guy who wants to love and be with a poor girl. The poor girl time-after-time puts him down and even kicks him around. There are mixed in other love stories and the whole thing seems to be centered on forbidden and broken love. What's going to happen to the couple and will they switch again? Just gotta watch and find out.

Is It Worth Watching?

I would have to say, yes. Although you might find yourself muting it now and then, as I do, since they play the same music over and over. 

I am beginning to see that this is more about the male character changing and dealing with his life. It also portrays rich Korean people in a critical tone, of course done so carefully. You do get the sense that the moral merits mostly come from Gil Ra Im and her "lower class" upbringing. The rich people in this show are portrayed as conniving, backstabbing and easily persuaded. I am not sure if this is something I am imagining or whether the directors are really going for this kind of atmosphere.

All in all, I would say give this drama a chance. Mostly you will need to get through the first 5 episodes and then things get really interesting. There's a lot of the usual eye candy and of course they spend a few episodes on Jeju Island. 

In case you need a visual idea of it all:

Have you seen it? Did you like it? Anything stick out to you as interesting?

KDrama: Romance Zero (하자 전담반 제로)

source

I don't know if you can remember everything I write, but do you recall that love formula post I came up with? You know the one where I compared America's love formula towards Korea's. It was a great post I think that revealed what people think on the topic. Today I feel my formulas still weren't the most accurate representation of love match making in different cultures.

So sometimes when you can't find the answers in your head you can go to other sources. As for me I found the Korean Drama Romance Zero. I use mysoju.com a lot to determine which Korean drama to watch. I particularly use their drama rankings section to check out which ones are worth watching based upon popularity. That is kind of how I stumbled upon this drama. You can also check out the Korean homepage of the show here.

I haven't watched all the episodes yet, but I am still interested.

Why it is interesting:

• Comedic
• Cute men and women
• Topic of the popular matchmaking service. Thought I could watch it and maybe learn something about matchmaking in Korea. But I don't know if it is working out this way.
• The main character is male, which provides a refreshing change of things.

Stars:

• Kang In, (Who is by the way from the Super Junior music group)

A super cutey in my book! source

• Kim Won Hee,

• Lee Da Hee,

• Lee Tae Sung

source

Plot:
Basically you have the main character played by Tae Sung who finds himself and his career in a whole lot of trouble. Why?

He is in the matchmaking business and works at a very fancy company. The beginning of the story goes that he is at a wedding watching one of his match making couples get married. Only to witness that the groom is indeed Gay, causing a huge scandal. Who is to blame? The matchmaker. So the next day he gets transferred to a different department at the company.

Basically he becomes the team leader of the matchmaking group called "Romance Zero". This is a team that helps candidates who are basically too poor to be matched under normal circumstances.

Grading system for potential candidates:
What I think has been the most fun watching the show is seeing the graphic that comes up when the introduce a candidate. It totally sums up my feelings about match making in Korea, which is a person's worth is based upon a certain set of criteria that is either good or bad. Since this drama is fiction and is sensationalizing real life I can't really say that my theories are correct. But it certainly is humerus to see it come to life on screen.

Joy:
Age: A
Appearance: A (Don't mean to be arrogant)
Achievement: B (Haven't exactly become the CEO of a company, yet)
Career: B (Still not boss yet.)
Family: B (Latch-key kid)

Oh but maybe I am being too kind on myself? haha

Rest of the Story:
As for the rest of what I have watched the characters get to help out some candidates that seem hopeless. Of course, though there is a sub-plot going on where a rival at the company wants to see the main character fired. And since the matchmaking people themselves are single it would seem that in future episodes the characters end up finding love.

It isn't the best drama out there, I admit. But it's still fun to watch and learn about the Korean dating scene.

I recommend watching it as a short time killer with potential to grow on you.