ASYAAF: Student Art Work at Hongik University

Going on till August 22nd is an Art Festival featuring young and upcoming artists alongside those who have been around longer. At Hongik University the ASYAAF (Asian Students and Young Artists Art Festival) brings us artwork from different varieties and tastes. I visited this exhibition and found myself enjoying the array of artworks on display.

I went with my friend from Artpoli, who is a member and one of the mangers of the site. She had exhibited in this group for the past two years but wasn't active in this one.

There was a lot to see and at times it felt like you were wandering through a maze, as there were three floors of wall-to-wall art to look at.

For the most part there were paintings and drawings to look at that ranged in age and of course mastery.

They put all the video artists in one section, which was kind of neat to walk through a dark lit area, but I think didn't help the artist's works. This was because you couldn't really get a good sense of each one as they were tightly put next to each other.

They also had one section dedicated to foreign Asian artists from such countries as Japan, India and Indonesia.

Out of the whole exhibition my favorite section was this one exhibiting non-Korean artworks. I liked this because, after walking through the halls of Korean works and then into the foreign ones you could definitely sense the difference in composition and style. Definitely, the Japanese works stood out the most to me, as they mostly touched on dramatic themes.

We moved on to the next floor of art, which featured more 2D work but also some sculpture.

I liked the following work of the shark in the bundle.

Although this exhibition asks for a 6,000 won entrance fee, I think it did a good job of getting the public inside. Even though many people feel like contemporary art is disconnected from the everyday person, I have to disagree. I think art, no matter what style or manner, is meant as an experience to be had. Whether you are trained in the arts or not, you can have an experience with art. 

The following was made from acrylic nails...

There was a lot of whimsical type of art on display and the following of a snail with a cake roll as it's shell, is just one representation.

If you would like to see some fresh and contemporary Korean and Asian art, than why not head over to Hongik University and see this exhibit. It lasts till August 22nd and to get there just head up into the University and follow the signs. It is on your left. 

With the hot weather this summer, getting in and seeing some art is a great way to beat the heat.

My Boyfriend's Backyard

First, let's take a look at a traditional summer food called Samgyetang. You are suppose to eat it three times in the summer. I had my share of it when I was at JH's house a few weekends ago, and his mom made it fresh for us.

The chicken, you see there, was disassembled and broken up into pieces and made more into a soup. It was quite delicious, wholesome and I loved the little dipping side of salt and pepper.

JH had been telling me about a park nearby his house. You see the man lives in a concrete jungle in the Northeastern part of Seoul. It is an area corner to corner with "Villas" or tiny housing units. The only plant life you see in this kind of neighborhood are the ones growing out of pots from people's doorsteps. So when he mentioned "park" and "nearby my house" I certainly was curious.

Sometime after dinner we went outside and I followed him to the park, making our way towards a mountain.

I enjoyed strolling through his neighborhood as I discovered the varying kinds of homes nearby and ways people decorated and took care of the exteriors.

This is a basement unit and the outside was covered in a mix of pictures, plates and other odds and ends. I was tempted to go up and play on the xylophone, but of course didn't.

We came to the park, which was quite spacious with exercise equipment, shady trees and the typical group of old gentlemen.

JH mentioned how about ten years ago he went here with his pals to smoke, and there was no grass or tall trees at that time. Apparently, the park was pretty new a decade ago.

There was even a small garden with some corn growing in it.

We came to a part where there was a slide to roll down. I had fun and rolled down it, but what made it even more special was that there was a kid at the bottom of the slide and before I knew it he was right behind me. Kind of odd and fun.

JH had some fun on the exercise equipment.

I had fun discovering this green gem in the "backyard" of JH's neighborhood. It certainly gave me some confidence that Seoul isn't always this slew of concrete and drainage pipes.

Patbingsu Quest: Hongdae

It's still summer, despite the rain, and I am still on the hunt for a great patbingsu. You can go and check out my other finds here, here, and here. As you know I was in Hongdae a while ago, and I saw some great things. Next to that doll painting place was a little cafe called, Taiyaki Cafe and as you can see it had a big sign for patbingsu.

What is a Taiyaki place? Well it is a place that serves Japanese fish-shaped cake with the sweet bean filling inside. Certainly I wondered what we would get.

The interior was simple and designed in a cute manner with little fish here and there. There is that moment when the patbingsu comes out and you are full of wonder.

 I would definitely say that what was shown on the banner and what was served were completely different. Something tells me they only had bananas in the kitchen as their fruit. So what we were served was the usual shaved ice, milk, sweat beans, tteok candies and sliced bananas.

It was certainly refreshing but not exactly inventive, therefore I can't say this one is a winner.

Where will end up next? Will I ever find a truly superb patbingsu this summer? hmmm