Being (Screaming) Together through Art/ K-Stage/ Intensifying K-dramas/ Scandalous Joy

안녕하세요! Hello!

This update includes thoughts on why I like art so much these days, pictures from various gallery visits, a link to free Korean plays and musicals, notes on meeting a jovial indie singer, and other goings-on. Enjoy!

With a friend at The Blue Room

COVID Update

• Korea's COVID situation is worse now than ever before. (Wow, that was negative. Sorry to start with such an unpleasant sentence. I look forward to the day I write, "Korea's COVID situation is better than ever before!" but we've got to get through the negative before we can get to the positive. Anyway.) The country reports aorund 2,000 new cases every day, 300-500 of which are in Seoul. Before this "4th wave" hit officials were ready to announce eased measures at the beginning of July (more than 5 people allowed to gather!) but when the numbers kept climbing they did a complete 180. Harsher restrictions went into effect, which included a 10 PM curfew (now 9 PM) for restaurants and cafes, and after 6 PM no more than 2 unvaccinated individuals can meet, not even in the comfort of their own homes. This doesn't affect my movements so much since I'm a homebody, but I'm mentally exhausted. We all are.
• While the US has an overabundance of vaccines people don't want, Korea has an abundance of people who want a vaccine the government can't provide, at least not yet. Many attribute this lag to Korea's misplaced trust in "K-Quarantine" and therefore lack of early vaccine orders. I only became eligible to sign up for the 1st dose on August 16th, and many of my friends won't receive their second dose until mid-October or later. Hopefully, anybody who wants the vaccine will at least get the first dose by October seeing as Korea has an order from Moderna set to arrive soon. But overall people are getting vaccinated and the case count will hopefully come to reflect that in time.

Doing

Art Galleries

• Near the end of my foray as an exchange student, a couple friends and I stumbled upon a student art exhibition. I noticed a sign advertising the event and urged my friends to descend the darkened staircase for a look. We left after only a few minutes, but even so, my short exposure to the artwork proved a significant part of my exchange experience. Honestly, I don't remember the pieces clearly, but I recall feeling as if I'd stumbled upon emotions that didn't resemble the Korea I knew. I'd originally been drawn to the country for its exciting pop culture, and most of my exchange experience had revolved around everything touristy and K-pop-related, but these pieces were different. They highlighted the difficulties of daily life, which I'd heard rumored among us foreigners who like to gossip about what "Korean life is really like" beneath the flashy surface, but I'd never heard a direct testimony to Korea being anything other than popstar-y goodness. The raw emotion and dark content of the pieces shocked me, just as my reaction slightly shocked my friends—I felt excited. 
• I won't say something simplistic now like I was excited to see the real Korea after so much fluff. The beautiful world of K-pop is just as real as the stresses expressed in those disturbing sculptures. They're both true to the extent they're both not true. They are what they are. Perhaps I shouldn't even equate them to opposites since happiness and grief and love and despair often overlap, and each emotion crosses boundaries the words we've devised for them can't approach, yet I thought of these worlds as opposites for a long time and still tend to think my interest in art or indie music or some other "higher" expression of the human experience is more worthy of my time than an interest in pop culture. It's not. Everything has meaning.
• Perhaps I like jarring artwork not because it says something more true about Korea, but because when I stumble across it I personally feel like I can breathe again. The need to be the preppy American Christian girl (which, I admit, is me) quiets down and I can scream like the angsty, intense, religious cynic (which is also me) wants to scream. Art tells me pleasing emotions are not the only ones to merit expression. By their works the artists let me know it's ok to scream together. 
• The past few months I've been able to scream a lot while visiting various galleries, but this interest in artistic expression has hardly given me any technical or historical understanding. A friend of mine who's an actual artist has shown me the significance of pieces I would have glanced over without her learned eye. If there are no bright colors, offensive text, twisted messages, or disturbing images I'm not as keen. I like things that stand out and demand I consider their content in a new way. Even better if it makes me initially want to crinkle my brow and pretend I'm not interested due to moral qualms. While that sounds concerning I assure you I'm not drawn to actual deviance, but there's something about stepping over the goody-goody boundaries I've created for myself that appeals to me. Perhaps that explains my interest in street art. Figures or words cheekily sprayed on buildings that never gave permission to be sprayed upon is a small way to shock me out of my own head. Street art says, Aha! My control's not completely gone! This system you've all made—it's not real! I don't need to play by your rules! When I see these expressions I feel like a friend's telling me I can let go. I don't have to play by all my rules either.

• Below, various exhibitions and shots from the past couple of months. (You can click on the photos to enlarge them.)

• The Blue Room at Ground See-Saw Myeongdong
• A sensory experience that covered the walls and ground in changing designs and strange characters.

• Speaking with two lovely ladies from the Picasso Exhibit at Seoul Arts Center

• Many works from artists at Urban Break, the largest street art exhibition in Asia.
• Non-street artists appeared as well. In fact, there were so many contributors I walked around for more than 3 hours and still didn't see everything!

• Dozeny Solo Exhibit at Gallery Stan

• Unparasite at Platform L

• Shin Chae-hui solo exhibit, shown at showandtell

• Various artists at an exhibition on Nodeul Island

• BOUNDARIES at Kwangmoon Gallery, an exhibition of 8 boundary-crossing artists (one of whom actually proved too intense for me) including my favorite street artist, Mr. Tongue.

The error message reads,
"Nobody cares where you went
and what you bought.
Do you still want to upload
this on your instagram?"

Mr. Tongue's take on the 12 tribes of Israel. I bet you've never seen Christian art like this!

• And, of course, street art

Watching

• Extracurricular (인간 수업)
• One of the most engaging shows I've had the pleasure (and displeasure) to watch. It's only 10 episodes but I needed a break after the first 2 because the content was just TOOOOOO DARK. However, when I began writing an article about crime in Korea I decided to pick it up again since the story's centered on illegal activity, and then I binged the remaining 8 episodes. Guess I just needed some time to prepare myself.
• The show's about a quiet, clever high school student whose parents left him to fend for himself. He earns living expenses and university tuition arranging prostitution services for various girls through a homemade app, but he's shortly discovered by a female student who wants in on the action. You find yourself simultaneously rooting for and hating the anti-hero protagonists, but can't look away because of the amazing storytelling and the show's relevance to recent news stories highlighting widespread sexual violence in Korea.
• Below, the trailer. The drama's also subbed and dubbed in English.
• Extracurricular is very different from the kind of Korean drama that first caught my attention. Foreign viewers including myself fell in love with shows like Coffee Prince (2007), Winter Sonata (2002), and My Lovely Kim Sam Soon (2004) because they promised an escape from the stresses of everyday life. The formulaic, romantic storylines and foreign setting removed me from the Western world, and I loved them for that. From what I can tell, these dramas still exist but no longer dominate Korea's airwaves, and I wonder how these new shows will capture the fancy of Western viewers.
• While I admit Korean films have had intense storylines for decades and my presence in Korea has opened cinematic doors that allow for greater access to dramas, I still suspect Korean shows are more and more resembling those I grew up with. Extracurricular holds more in common with Breaking Bad than with Kim Sam Soon and certainly shouldn't be used for escapism. Keep my life as far from the plot of Extracurricular as possible, please.

• Daehakro, K-Stage
• While I'm not a fan of the overused "K" distinction I appreciate this effort to introduce Korean plays and musicals to non-Korean audiences. On the last Friday of each month, Welcome Daehakro streams a performance on their YouTube channel with subtitles in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese Mandarin.
• The first musical was a take on Sherlock Holmes and his creator, the writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It proved a bit boring for me, though the actors were fantastic singers. The next one about King Lear, however, was fantastic! So much talent and an engaging story. Whatever audiences think of the productions, Welcome Daehakro is providing a wonderful opportunity to view theatre from a non-Western country.
• The next show will be streamed on September 24th at 8 PM Korean Standard Time (KST), which is September 23rd, 6 AM Central time in the USA.

Listening

• Zior Park, one of the most unique artists I've come across. I'm kinda obsessed, to be honest. He's Korean but performs each song in English as he thinks it better conveys the desired mood.
• Zior Park's music can be as disconcerting as it is engaging, which kinda fits the mood of my above monologue on art. He often references Christian themes, with one song surrounding King David (RUN ! DAVID, RUN !) and lines such as, "No prophet is accepted in his hometown," from the song BLACK FIN. No thoughts about that from me yet as I'm still processing, just overwhelming interest.
• Below, BLACK FIN and GHOST, title tracks from Zior Park's June 2021 album, SYNDROMEZ.

• 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) by TXT (Tomorrow and Together)
• The original version of this song serves as a great karaoke scream-a-long, but I like this remake featuring the rappers Ph-1 and Woodie Gochild even more.

• 내 사랑 (Oh, My Love) by Mersie
• My friend released her first Korean-language song. If you want a quiet acoustic track to vibe to, take a listen!

What I'm Reading

• Grass by Geum-suk Gendry-Kim
• A graphic novel retelling the life of Okseon Lee, a Korean girl kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery during the Pacific War.

• The Plotters by Un-su Kim
• A novel about a fictional underground world full of assassins, the figures who control those assassins behind the scenes, and a mysterious knitting librarian.

What I'm Writing

• An interview with the leader of the ska band, No.1 Korean, about how indie bands are coping with pandemic restrictions.
• The Peninsula’s No.1 Korean Wishes to Tell You, “Don’t Be Lonely”

• Below, what I didn't say in the article

I want to spend some time relating my experience interviewing Milk, the leader of No. 1 Korean. (It's a great name, I know. His kids are named "Strawberry" and "Grape" in case you're wondering.) Milk is one of the most interesting individuals I've had the pleasure to know, completely open to others in a way I find mildly scandalous. For a paranoid person like me, it's absolutely fascinating.

I first stumbled across a performance of Milk's band on South Korean Rock's YouTube channel, and immediately felt drawn to their energy. Few musicians extract a verbal response from me but I found myself constantly "wow-ing" and "yeah-ing" at the animated group. The band's characteristic energy was the main reason I wanted to write a story on No. 1 Korean—in doing so, I hoped some of their affective energy would rub off on me.

Fast forward to the interview...

A lot of establishments seek to become neighborhood gathering spaces, but I found the new café where Milk suggested we meet the first one to actually create that environment. Everyone in the room seemed to know each other and included my friend and me as if we belonged in that mix. The barista played No.1 Korean's music over the speakers and the café seemed to continuously fill with Milk's friends. At one point, a man who also seemed an acquaintance of everyone in the room dropped off complimentary pineapple and left the café in a flurry. The barista came by to put our pineapple on a plate as if this was a normal occurrence that required no other response. After taking a picture of our strange food and beverage combination my friend and I asked if the café had an Instagram to tag. "I don't think it needs one," the barista replied, but Milk put his arm around the café owner's shoulder and assured us, "We'll make one!"

At some point, Milk came out with a large camera to capture everyone enjoying their drinks (and pineapple), and I later found myself tagged in a video on Instagram. When my friend and I finished the interview we took a picture together for the article, and Milk took another on his own phone as if he'd met someone special and not the other way around.

What a morning.

Something about that time in the café felt special. Perhaps I've been holed up too long and take little things more seriously than in normal times, but that morning I felt so at ease. That's why I'm glad when I take the rare chance to reach out to interesting strangers. Most people in the world don't want to hurt me; most of us long to trust one another and just be human together. I'm glad when that conviction's proven correct.

• Also writing: A piece exploring why Korea can feel simultaneously safe and dangerous.
• Behind Closed Doors: The Paradox of Korea’s Hidden and Public Crimes
• Some thoughts
• 
• In a city of new new new it's hard for any place to survive past its initial popularity. Especially during corona. Beautiful cafes and restaurants fall victim seemingly every day. 
  
  

Photos

Lovely Café Interior 1

Lovely Café Interior 2

I took the Korean language exam (TOPIK) at this high school. I specifically chose a high school rather than a university because there are so few opportunities to visit these more intimate locations. Perhaps a school doesn't seem intimate to you, but can you imagine a foreigner having an easy time entering a US school just to look around because they're curious? I'm that foreigner. I actually even took notes of the graffiti on the walls (one asking people to contact him/her at a scratched-out number), the Korean flag at the front of the room, the constant references to the seuneung (Often called "the Korean SAT,-" the seuneung is the sole test that determines which universities students are eligible to apply to), the many posters advertising universities, and the resident cat sitting comfortably outside. I began wandering the halls before the test to see more when a voice came over the intercom reminding test-takers should remain in their seats to prevent the spread of COVID. Pretty sure that announcement was meant just for me.
Anyway. I got a high-ish score on my exam so I'm happy. 😀

I was interviewed for my article on Korean literature. A neat experience!

"You're cherished," one of many encouraging phrases written on a bridge. Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD countries, and I'm told these are meant to convince individuals to rethink ending their lives. They're also nice to see walking along. 

SCENES OF SEOUL

The Han River

Stuck my camera out a window to take this as I waited for the subway.

끝까지 함께 해 주셔서 고맙습니다. 다음에 또 만납시다!

(Thanks for reading to the end. Let's meet again next time!)