미디어파사드: 랜드마크로 거듭나는 새로운 방법

Media facade: New way to become landmark

 

Those who set foot in Seoul for the first time via train in the evening will be dazzled for a moment to see the brightly-lit Seoul Square building right across Seoul Station. Its whole front side turns into a giant electronic canvas after 8 p.m. everyday to show luminous media works such as Julian Opie’s “Walking People” and Yang Man-gi’s “Mimesis-scape.”

Kumho Asiana Main Tower in Gwanghwamun (Kumho Asiana)

Installed in November 2009, the 99 meter wide and 78 meter long media façade on the face of Seoul Square is the world’s largest and it may soon be listed on the Guinness Book of Records.

Media works by five more artists in addition to Opie and Yang -- Mun Gyung-won, Kim Shin-il, Ryu Ho-yeul, Lee Bae-gyung and group mioon -- colorfully light up the 42,000 LED light bulbs dotted on the façade everyday until 11 p.m.

Since Tuesday, a new show titled “Seoul Square Clock Project” has been added to the playlist. Nine graphic artists -- Cho Young-sang, Lee Gyu-man, Park Jeong-sik, Kim Ji-seon, Seok Chang-geon, Park Ho Yeon, Won Ki-hun, Gang Se-hyun, Mun Yong-ho -- created 7 minute-long-works inspired by time or clock. The works are showcased every 59 minutes past the hour.

“Composed of various numbers and clock motives, the art clock offers a unique visual experience. It will also work as a convenient public clock,” said Yeom Yeon-hwa, an official at the Seoul Square Media Center.

Many buildings throughout the world are competitively having media façades installed on their outer walls. The most famous ones like Dexia Tower in Brussels -- which used to be world’s largest until Seoul Square came along -- Millennium Park in Chicago and the Chanel building in Tokyo have all become the cities’ newest landmarks.

Led by Seoul Square, buildings with big and small media façades are rapidly becoming landmarks in Korea as well.

Bus and taxi stops in front of Seoul Station on which eye-catching media art flows continuously is called “Art Shelters.” It is a donation by Hyundai Card to the public to add to the area‘s brilliant ambience created by Seoul Square.

Kumho Asiana Main Tower in Gwanghwamun literally shines among buildings in the area with its 91.9 meter long and 23 meter wide media façades titled “LED Gallery” on its front side.

In southern Seoul, many buildings including GS Tower in Yeoksam-dong and Galleria Department Store in Apgujeong-dong light up the area.

Lotte Department Store’s Gwangbok branch became one of the landmarks of Busan as soon as it opened in December 2009, not only for its unique design, which resembles a ship, but also for the media façade which covers all of its outer walls, consisted of 400,000 LED bulbs.

In Sangam Digital Media City, which is Seoul Metropolitan Government’s ambitious digital media entertainment business cluster project in northwestern Seoul, six out of 22 buildings have media boards installed on them.

It is actually mandatory for companies that plan to construct buildings near Digital Media Street -- the main street in the DMC -- to install media boards on the outer walls.

“The purpose is to raise the brand value of DMC by showcasing something that only DMC can do. As each company has different functions, each media board will be designed to fit different identities of the companies,” said Jin Jae-hun, head of the DMC Management Team.

This media façade craze is welcome news for media artists, who were not so popular in the art market compared to artists of other genres. It is likely that they will be offered more opportunities, according to art insiders.

“The media façade on Seoul Square was made to showcase media art. We display contents made by artists and graphic designers. This could lead to great opportunities for the artists,” said Yeom.

Building owners also benefit by adding such artistic touches on their buildings.

“The building becomes a landmark when a media façade is installed on it. It is great PR. Then the occupancy rate of the building rises, leading to profits. The occupancy rate of Seoul Square actually jumped soon after Morgan Stanley bought the former Daewoo building -- today’s Seoul Square -- and installed the façade,” said Kim Min-ju, president of Read & Leader Consulting Corporation.

Media façades usually consist of LED lights which are less bright than lights used on regular electronic display boards.

“When comparing the same color, the brilliance of LED lights is less than one-tenth of the same lights used on regular electronic display boards. They do not make eyes sore nor cause harm to the buildings nearby,” said Yeom.

“I really like working near Seoul Square. It was difficult to make time to enjoy artworks in the city, but now the media façade offers some great things to see on my way home from work,” said Lim Jae-wan, an office worker who works in a building near Seoul Square.

However, some still voice concern over light pollution. Acknowledging such complaints, Seoul Metropolitan Government announced the Media Façade Guideline on Sept. 1, 2009. All buildings that are to install media facades have to pass deliberation council by the city.

“Now is only the beginning of the media façade trend. We expect to see many more in the future, and it would not be a pretty sight if media façades were imprudently installed everywhere and the city overflowed with flashy advertisements. The guideline aims to have artistic and emotionally satisfying media façades in the city which do not cause harm to the drivers or the pedestrians, cause light pollution or spoil the beauty of the city,” said Lee Myung-gi, head of the Public Design team at Seoul Metropolitan Government.

One of the major guidelines reads: “Only artworks are allowed on media façades. Advertisements, designs that have no artistic value or harm beautiful and fine customs are restricted.”

“Some buildings that use media façades for advertising were already built before the guideline was announced. In the case of BK Dongyang Plastic Surgery Clinic in Sinsa-dong, for example, we told them to make adjustments to the content of the media art and they brought a new design draft. We are currently reviewing the draft,” said Lee.

But opinions are divided concerning the formation of the deliberating council members and how exactly artistic value could be evaluated. The deliberating council currently has 13 members -- 12 lighting experts and one media façade expert.

“It is a sensitive matter, but we do sometimes think that it is illogical for lighting experts to give assessments about artworks, especially when artistic values are supposed to be subjective,” said Yeom.

“Some of the deliberating council members are lighting experts but there is also a media façade expert, Chung-ang University professor Kim Hyung-gi who studied media facades in Paris. We are planning to have one more media art expert to join the council on January, although the lighting experts also do have basic knowledge about media facades. And media arts on the facades do not necessarily have to be ones by professional artists. Only if the works are not detrimental to the public interest, there is no particular reason they could not pass the deliberation,” said Lee. 　

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

 

국립현대미술관 정창섭전 리뷰

Chung’s mulberry papers create cultured calm

 

The second exhibition room in the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, seems like an ideal world of tranquility that exists far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, especially after walking past Paik Nam-june’s flashy media work “Samramansang” which is installed near the room.

Monotone paintings by veteran artist Chung Chang-sub fill the walls there, amazingly turning the place even more serene and simpler than when it was void.

Chung, one of the first graduates of the College of Fine Arts at Seoul National University and currently an honorary professor there, is one of the doyens of Korean art. After his successful debut in 1952, winning the special prize at the National Art Competition, Chung led some of Korea’s important art movements such as Art Informel.

Ironically, however, the “Chang-Sup Chung Retrospective” is his first-ever solo exhibition held at a national museum.

“This might be his last one, too, because he is in critical condition. He never enjoyed presenting himself or cared much about promoting his works. That’s probably why he is less known compared to his close friends like Park Seo-bo or Kim Tschang-yeul. Now is the time that a national museum shed light on his works,” said Lee Sun-ryung, curator of the exhibition.

Chung Chang-sub

Like the artist himself, his artworks are the kind that do not make a strong first impression but reveal much more by not expressing too much. His last series, “Mukgo,” which means the thoughts of silence, is the epitome of Chung’s works.

The secret to his calm but profound paintings is “dakjongi,” or Korean traditional paper made from mulberry bark.

A view of the exhibition “Chang-Sup Chung Retrospective” (National Museum of Contemporary Art)

“Chung practiced Informel paintings after learning the basics of Western painting but was not fond of the gooey and thick texture of oil paint. So he tried to come up with ways to naturalize the texture, like by painting it thin and runny as possible. And one day in the mid 1970s, he met his fate, dakjongi,” said Lee.

“The shades and colors of the works vary although they may be the same kind of dakjongi. The artist hand-dyed dakjongi to bring out the exact color and shade he wanted and made the wrinkles one by one after placing them on the canvas.”

A docent program for the hearing-impaired runs every Wednesday and Saturday, based on reservations.

Musician Hwang Byung-ki’s mini gayageum, or 12-stringed Korean zither, recital will take place at the exhibition hall on Aug.14, which will perfectly harmonize with the exhibition.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 17 at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. Tickets are 1,500 won for students and 3,000 won for adults. For more information, call (02) 2188-6000 or visit www.moca.go.kr.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

국립현대미술관 아시아리얼리즘 전시 리뷰

Asian realism blurs fact and fiction

We expect to find the truth in realism paintings. But seeing the works displayed at the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Deoksugung, in central Seoul, that does not seem to be always the case, especially if they were created during extraordinary situations like war.

The museum is currently showcasing 104 realism paintings from ten different Asian countries ― South Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and India ― at the exhibition “Realism in Asian Art.” All exhibits, except the paintings by Korean artists, are shown in the country for the first time.

Kim In-hye, curator at the museum and Joyce Fan, curator from the National Art Gallery, Singapore, co-organized the exhibition. A smaller scale exhibition featuring 79 paintings was held in Singapore in April.

“Organizing the exhibition depended a lot on the nation’s political and diplomatic situations. It was most difficult to bring artworks from China while it was smoother with India, because Korea is having good relations with the country after signing a free trade agreement. The officials in India lent us some paintings that they did not allow to be exhibited in Singapore,” said Kim.

“We also considered getting paintings on loan from North Korea, although it did not happen for many reasons. One of them was that we could not contact any North Korean scholars to discuss the paintings with. We thought it was not fair to select works solely based on our point of views,” said Kim.

“Rice Planting” by Filipino artist Fernando Amorsolo National Museum of Contemporary Art

Displayed artworks meticulously reflect the countries’ political, economical and cultural situations at the time, or sometimes intrigue the viewers to search for the real truth hidden under the thick layers of paint.

“Courtesan” by Japanese artist Takahashi                                                  Yuichi National Museum of Contemporary Art

Among the exhibits, a state-commissioned war painting titled “Engineering Corps Constructing a Bridge in Malaya” by Japanese artist Shimizu Toshi is a good example of a realism painting that stretched the truth.

The painting shows Japanese soldiers building a bridge in Malaysia, which the British army had destroyed, in order launch an attack on Singapore in 1942. The artist, however, included locals helping the Japanese soldiers in the painting to glorify the professed intent of the army that the construction was carried out with the ultimate aim of liberating Asia.

Hanging across from the painting is Singaporean artist Koeh Sia Yong‘s “Persecution,” which depicts the massive purge of ethnic Chinese there by Japanese soldiers, a painful moment in Singapore’s history. The positioning of the two paintings renders the Japanese artist’s point of view a bit strange even if one is not aware of the exact history of the time.

“Most of the official war paintings were taken from the colonizer’s view. We must remember what such paintings were for. They were to promote the wars and to justify their actions. When you look at the Japanese paintings and other paintings taking different points of views, you can realize which is by the aggressor and which is by the victim,” said Fan.

Although all exhibits obviously fall into the “realism” category and are from the same continent, each work features a unique style derived from the artists’ traditional cultures.

Japanese artist Takashi Yuichi, for instance, used multiple layers of white lead to depict the rosy cheek of the woman in the painting “Courtesan.” It was a technique often used in Japanese traditional paintings. Vietnamese artist Nguyen Gia Tri, on the other hand, added layers of lacquer to better express black and gold colors. It was a traditional style of painting in Vietnam.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 10 at The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Deoksugung, in central Seoul. Tickets range from 2,000 won to 5,000 won. For more information, call (02) 2188-6000 or asia.moca.go.kr

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)

 

 

복원된 광화문 공개임박

Restored Gwanghwamun gets final touches

 

The restoration of the panel on Gwanghwamun bearing the historic gate’s name is expected to be finished Saturday.

It will be shown to the public on Aug. 15, Korea’s Liberation Day, during the unveiling ceremony of the new Gwanghwamun.

Oh Ok-jin, master engraver and Intangible Cultural Property No. 106, announced on Tuesday that he had completed engraving each of the three Chinese characters for “Gwang-hwa-mun” on the name panel.

Together, these three characters carry the meaning, “Bestowing the great virtues of a king upon the nation and its people.”

“The panel will be attached to Gwanghwamun on July 31 after receiving final Dancheong touches,” said an official from the Cultural Heritage Administration. Dancheong is the traditional multicolored paintwork on wooden buildings.

“But the signboard will be covered with fabric until Aug. 15 because the day is when the restored Gwanghwamun will be officially open to the public for the first time,” he added.

This new name panel, a restored version of the original signboard that was written by Lim Tae-young, head of the Gyeongbokgung reconstruction team and general in 1867, will replace the former one with former president Park Chung-hee’s handwritten Hangeul letters on it. This change is part of the Gwanghwamun restoration project that started in 2006.

The gate has more than 600 years of a stormy history. It was first built in the beginning of the Joseon dynasty during the reign of Taejo, Joseon’s first king, as the main gate of his palace, Gyeongbokgung.

Gwanghwamun, which has been under restoration since 2006, will be unveiled on Aug. 15, Korea’s Liberation Day.                                                                                                 Yonhap News

But it was burnt down during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592. Although it was rebuilt under the orders by Heungseon Daewongun in 1864, it was moved to make room for the Japanese Government General during Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.

Gwanghwamun was burnt down once again during the Korean War and was reconstructed during the Park Chung-hee government but in a modified way. The current project aims to recover Gwanghwamun’s original form.

Oh is following four steps to recreate the signboard as close to Lim’s as possible, based on a photo from the early 20th century that the National Museum of Korea restored in 2005.

First, five to six professional calligraphers meticulously revised the letters on Lim’s signboard shown on the photo. Then the revised letters were enlarged, made into life-size prints and glued to the wood that would be the new name panel. Oh then engraved the letters in the wood.

These three steps took about 20 days. Now there only remains the final step: Dancheong.

The new signboard will be almost exactly the same as the original one in its size and material, said the officials.

Approximately 428.5 cm wide, 173 cm long with 54cm long wings on the bottom part and 110cm wings on both sides, the signboard is the same size as that of Park’s or Lim’s.

Geumgang pine, which was used to build palaces since the Joseon dynasty and is also assumed to have been the main material for Lim’s signboard, is used again this time.

Meanwhile, some Hangeul academies are still arguing through rallies and media that the characters on the new name panel should be in Hangeul and not in Chinese.

But the Cultural Heritage Administration is standing firm.

“It is a principle that the sign panel should be restored just like what it looked like when Gyeongbokgung was restored. This is the deliberation results from the Cultural Properties Committee,” said Kim Won-ki, head of the Administration’s royal Palaces and Tombs Division.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

 

 

에르메스미술상 최종3인 후보 전시중!

Hermes award finalists display work

 

Three finalists of this year’s Hermes Foundation Missulsang, or art award, are showcasing their works at Atelier Hermes in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul. The final winner, who will take home a plaque and a prize of 20 million won ($17,000), will be selected after the second deliberation on Sept. 2.

Established in 2000 to promote Korean culture and art through sponsorship for the artists, the annual award has put many talented artists such as Kim Beom, Suh Do-ho and Park Chan-kyong in the limelight.

This year’s finalists ― Yangachi, Bae Jong-heon, Park Jina ― were narrowed down from 10 nominees by five judges including Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi; Ahn Kyu-chul, artist and professor at Korean National University of Arts, Seoul; Song Mi-sook, honorary professor at Sungshin Women’s University; Saskia Bos, dean of Cooper Union, U.S.; and Stephanie Moisdon, independent curator.

Sponsored by the Hermes Foundation for new projects, the three finalists offer some peculiar and creative works at Atelier Hermes.

“The Mountain of Casper David Fredrich” (right) and “The Sea of Joseph Mallord William Turner,” both by Bae Jong-heon                                                                Atelier Hermes

Media artist Yangachi introduces a multi-view video series titled “Bright Dove Hyunsook” which is an extension of his recent “Surveillance Drama” series. The new series showcases various points of view including a human’s, a bird’s and several CCTV cameras’.

“We become different people depending on whether we are at work, with parents, friends or a lover. When you look at people from a multi-view, like from a bird’s point of view, then a human’s and then a CCTV’s, you can understand why people are acting in such a way at the moment,” Yangachi told the press last Thursday.

“Measuring Level” by Park Jina                                                                                Atelier Hermes

In the series, a Korean woman named Hyunsook wears a hat with a dove on top and wanders around the neighborhood in Buam-dong in central Seoul and in Dosan Park, just in front of Atelier Hermes, swinging her arms and making dove-like noises.

“Doves and CCTVs are very alike. They are numerous in the city, people hate it when they are too close but just ignore them when they are not so near,” Yangachi added.

The installation view of Yangachi’s media work “Bright Dove Hyunsook – Dove view”                                                                                                                                           Atelier Hermes

Inspired by the global climate change issue and fed up with the vague weather forecasts and research, Bae proposes a new project, “A weather forecast,” to question how the scientific analysis of observing and studying natural phenomena has come to control our lives and society.

Bae Jong-heon

One of the most interesting works of the project is “My own weather forecast” in which Bae appears on the TV screen to give the day’s weather forecast for different spots inside his house using his homemade gadgets.

Park Jina

“I didn’t want to make any obvious, outdated works so I created things based on my own personal experiences,” said Bae.

Two of his automatic installations ― “The mountain of Caspar David Friedrich” and “The sea of Joseph Mallord William Turner” ― which he took from Friedrich and Turner’s masterpieces are eye-catching as well.

Yangachi

“I found it interesting how Friedrich thought of nature as a subject to conquer while Turner considered it as greatly powerful. Personally, I think humans are destroying nature. You will see what I mean when you take a look at the works from behind,” said Bae.

Looking from behind, visitors will be surprised to see that the paintings were done on a canvas made from wastes like ramen and cracker packages connected together.

Park’s works are relatively monotonous, compared to Yangachi and Bae’s adventurous works, but unique in their own way. She took snap shots of people installing artworks at a gallery or an art museum, getting ready to hold an exhibition, and painted the scenes on canvas.

“Art museums and galleries are spaces that have special purposes. They are made to be considered as familiar but actually change all the time. I wanted to capture the special place,” said Park.

The 2010 Hermes Foundation Missulsang Exhibition runs through Sep. 19 at Atelier Hermes on the third floor of Maison Hermes Dosan Park in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul. For more information, call (02) 544-7722.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

 

 

언어의그늘_스페인현대미술특별전 리뷰

Spanish collection marks relations with Korea

 

Spain has much more than just its incredible World Cup-winning soccer players. Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, better known as MACBA, is another of Spain’s sources of pride.

Established in 1995, MACBA has a rather short history compared to other prestigious national art museums around the world. But thanks to MACBA founder and director Bartomeu Mari’s foresight, MACBA soon became one of the world’s most acclaimed museums specializing in conceptual art.

“The Shadow of Speech” exhibition, currently underway at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, is offering visitors the chance to see 138 brilliant conceptual art pieces by 68 European artists, straight from the MACBA collection. The exhibition is celebrating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Spain and Korea.

“Speech signifies that one is alive. But before it is spoken, language cannot make shadows by itself because it cannot be seen, like air. It can only make shadows when it is spoken,” said Mari at the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

The exhibition implies that language can be spoken not only through speech but also through artworks, movies and more. Most exhibits have little twists that either make visitors laugh or deepen the intended message.

Divided into eight divisions ― “It Starts In Poetry,” “Towards Writing,” “Towards Another Geometry,” “Towards Actionism,” “The Political Action,” “Media And Power,” “The Future Of Cinema”and “Theatre And Play” ― the exhibition invites visitors to see an array of paintings, installations and media art. These can all be considered results and shadows of speech ― in a unique European way of thinking, the organizers said.

“Construction of the Matrix” by Francesc Torres                                                                    MACBA

The first three divisions showcase works that are literally about language and speech. Marcel Broodthaers, a Belgian artist and poet, visualized poetry by coloring the words in poems black and merged old fashion 16mm film in another work to criticize poetry.

Tapies Antoni, a renowned Spanish informalism artist, expressed a profound message about the components of words through his metaphorical work “Cross and R” in which most of its materials ― sand, fabric, stones, paint and pencil traces ― are in their original state and visible on the canvas.

It is in the “Towards Actionism” section that the exhibition starts to get extra philosophical. Some Spanish artists seem to be still affected by the trauma of the dictatorial Franco regime which took place in Spain from 1938 to 1978.

“Vassels: Worship of the Mother” by Eulalia Valldosera                                                                                            MACBA

Francesc Torres’ work “Construction of the Matrix,” which was first shown at the 1976 Venice Biennale, is a good example of the influence of the regime.

Torres built a small hill made of sand, rocks and empty bullet shells to symbolize the regime. A bible, which the regime was established upon, and the Communist Manifesto, which the regime was strongly opposed to, each lay open under lamps on opposing slopes. The most astonishing part of the work is the faint silhouette of a fetus projected on the hill, just below a pair of dangling scissors.

“The time was when the Franco regime was about to collapse and new things were about to begin. The fetus, which symbolizes the future of the nation, was to be born as soon as its umbilical cord was cut off, but no one was sure what it would be like,” said Kang Soo-jung, curator of the exhibition.

Another Spanish artist Reimundo Patino resisted the dictatorship by painting a cartoon titled “The Man whoSpoke Vegliota” using the Galician language which was forbidden in Spain at the time. The painting, of course, could not be shown in public back then.

“You can see that, in a way, Spain and Korea have a very similar history,” said Kang.

A less serious but also a meaningful piece is “Vassels: Worship of the Mother” by Eulalia Valldosera in the “Theatre And Play” section.

Valldosera created shadows that appear like female silhouettes by placing detergents in front of beam projectors. Her whimsical way of lining up different sized bottles to express a mother getting fatter as she ages and weakens through time makes visitors realize that the very items women use when doing housework resembles their figures.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 3 at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. Tickets range from 2,500 won to 5,000 won. For more information, call (02) 2188-6114 or visit www.moca.go.kr.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

2010 베니스 건축 비엔날레 한국관 작가+커미셔너 인터뷰

Seoul’s past, present and future to be shown in Venice

 

A discussion between six middle-aged architects over the final details about the Korean pavilion was heating up Atelier 17, Kwon moon-sung’s architect office in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul.

Kwon, commissioner of the Korean pavilion for this year’s Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition, and the five architects -- Cho Jung-goo, Lee Sang-koo, Lee Chung-kee, Shin Seung-soo, Hah Tesoc -- who will be representing the nation in Venice from August to November, have been holding more than 50 meetings like this during the past five months.

“Barcity vs citybar” by Shin Seung-soo                                                                  Shin Seung-soo

“The biennale is just one month away. Now is the busiest time. We usually hold meetings late at night around 10 p.m. because we all have to be at our jobs in the daytime. Today’s an exception,” Kwon told The Korea Herald.

Founded in 1980, Venice Biennale is one of world’s three major biennales along with the Sao Paulo Biennale and Whitney Biennale. The art exposition takes place on odd-numbered years, while the architecture exhibition takes place in the even-numbered years.

Korea and Japan are the only two Asian countries among 25 nations around the world that have their own pavilion at the prestigious architecture festival. This year is the seventh time that Korea is participating in the biennale. Led by director Kazuyo Sejim, the 12th biennale is to be held under the theme “People meet in architecture” from Aug. 29 to Nov. 21 at Castello Gardens and Arsenale in Venice, Italy.

Kwon chose the theme “Re-place-ing, Documentary of Changing Metropolis Seoul” for the Korean pavilion.

“We picked a theme that is familiar to Koreans but could pique the curiosities of foreigners. It is an interesting procedure how Seoul changed its look as it went through rapid economic growth, a concentrated population, the Korean War and more. The exhibition will particularly focus on the historical meanings, influences and the future of apartment houses and public spaces,” said Kwon.

The Korean pavilion will be in a form of a “Hanok,” or traditional Korean-style house, because the experts agreed that it is probably the original form of Korean-style architecture. Kwon said that he also hopes the place will act as a resting place for the Biennale visitors.

The Korean pavilion will be set up like a Hanok that visitors can take a rest in. Cho Jung-goo

“The Korean pavilion is placed at the end of the Biennale venue. So if visitors circle around the place, our pavilion will be at the mid-point. We hope the visitors can meet in the Korean pavilion,’” said Kwon.

An important task was to make the works by five architects to blend together and appear like something created by a single person or team. After numerous discussions, the architects came up with an organized format divided into three big sections, with each representing Seoul’s past, present and future. Each participant sat down to share their thoughts and introduce their works to The Korea Herald.



Section A -- “Seoul’s past” by Cho Jung-goo and Lee Sang-koo



Cho: People think Seoul is changing too quickly, leaving no original traces, but I know that the older parts of Seoul are still vividly present. It is important that we rediscover the values and treasure them as we develop the city.

(From left) Kwon moon-sung, Shin Seung-soo, Lee Sang-koo, Cho Jung-goo, Hah Tesoc and Lee Chung-kee discuss the final details of the Korean pavilion.                                                                                                          Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald

I sought to be very meticulous in depicting the streets, alleys and buildings of the areas near the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, including Naesu-dong, Naeja-dong and Hyoja-dong, into a six meter wide and 3.8 meter-long pen drawing. It appears like a view you’ll see when you are flying.

One of the alleys is made into a miniature model, complete with tiny houses and yards. I wanted to show that the history of our city and the traces of our lives are still alive.

Lee: Cities are supposed to be made by the people who actually live there. But ever since the start of the 20th century, we started to live in cities that somebody else designed. I was, therefore, moved to look into cities that its own residents had created. It is important that we learn from what we already have.

Cho: It is also my job to turn the Korean pavilion into a Hanok. I am taking the wood from an actual Hanok that used to be in Hyehwa-dong and modifying the sizes a little bit. It will not be a full Hanok complete with a tiled roof, but you will be able to see the architectural essence from the wooden structures.

It is not only an effort to show the value of Hanok as a living space but also to show the ironical situation of Seoul, where some places like the Bukchon village well preserves the Hanok but other places virtually destroy the Hanok in the name of redevelopment.



Section B -- “Seoul’s present” by Lee Chung-kee and Shin Seung-soo



Lee: Section B aims to show how many parts of the city, which is several hundred years old, is getting erased and replaced in a flash. Seoul is a city of apartments. We will be exhibiting every possible research result and historical document about apartments in the nation’s capital.

One of them is a digital map depicting the number of apartment buildings. Because the dark circles represent the congested areas, the finished map turned out to look like Swiss cheese.

We will also display photos of apartment buildings along the Han River, which plainly reveal how they are blocking the mountains and the river. I am not trying to say that it is bad or good. It is just to show the facts.

Some interesting research results will be exhibited as well, like how long or high it will be when all apartments of the city are lined up or sideways.

Shin: Based on our research, when all of Korea’s apartments are lined sideways, it can go around the earth three times.

Lee: Or it can cover the whole city of Seoul.

Shin: I subtitled my part of the exhibition ‘space bar.’ Like how the space bar on the keyboard makes spaces between words so that the following word can be written down, public places provide spaces between apartments to enable the next apartment to be placed nearby.

Public places contain memories and conversations between people filling up the space. Considering the main theme of the biennale, “People meet in architecture,” I expressed how people meet at and use public spaces, using cartoons.

Our living spaces are pretty much blocked from others by retaining and soundproofing walls. This cartoon will be like a mini scenario about how we can get the fragmented individuals to communicate with each other and about the relationship between apartments, public places and external spaces.



Section C -- “Seoul’s future” by Hah Tesoc



Hah: The problem with today’s apartment buildings is that consumers have only one way, a very passive way, of getting an apartment -- moving into one that is ready-made by some architect. And there are only two or three models.

Because everyone lives in such a standardized space, the whole city seemed to be somehow shut up in anonymity.

So I am proposing a way that enables everyone to create their own apartments that perfectly fit into each of their lifestyles. This way, the city can exude a unique identity.

One can simply download the smartphone application I made for the phone and input it as one’s source for lifestyle information. Just the right type of neighbors and apartment units that perfectly match the user’s lifestyle will be suggested. As more information is collected, cities with different identities can be created.

A beam projector will shoot this whole city-building process onto all of the six walls in section C, turning the space into a virtual apartment. Visitors can participate with the smartphones equipped at the venue or at home with their smartphones.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

백남준 미망인 자서전 발간

Paik’s widow reveals artist’s inner side

 

For an artist, his or her lover is one of the biggest inspirations.

Late Korean video artist Paik Nam-june and his Japanese wife Shigeko Kubota, who is also a video artist, were inspirations for each other.

“We often had the same ideas. I had to put my work ‘Duchamp’s Grave’ inside the house for quite a time and one day saw that Nam-june had made a work called ‘V-yramid.’ I asked him what it was about, and he said ‘I couldn’t help but see ‘Duchamp’s Grave’ everyday, whether I wanted to or not.’ He was inspired by my work,” said Kubota at a press conference on Tuesday.

“We were both artists but he was a philosopher and musician who is more symbolic and idealistic, while I majored in physical art like paintings and sculptures. I encouraged Nam-june to show his works to more audiences so that more people could enjoy his work.”

Kubota published the book, “My Love, Paik Nam-june,” which reveals previously unknown sides of Paik’s struggles, efforts and of course, their love story. Two authors, including Nam Jeong-ho, an international news editor at a local newspaper, helped Kubota organize her memories into writings.

The book starts with Kubota’s reminiscence of Paik’s very first performance that she saw in Tokyo, on May 29, 1964, which made her fall in love with the man.

Seeing Paik’s “grotesque” performance of throwing eggs against the walls, torturing two pianos with his bare hands, hooks and axes until they broke down, painting a picture with Chinese black ink using his head as a brush and finally drinking water from his leather shoes, Kubota “felt as if I had found an oasis in the desert of my mind, where there used to be only wind and sand,” she wrote in the book.

Shigeko Kubota speaks at a press conference held at The Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul on Tuesday.                                                                                           Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald

“I loved him because he was so talented and was a genius. Even before I knew him, he was a legendary person in Tokyo. When you talked to him, you knew he was very special. He had knowledge about everything, from high art to low art,” said Kubota.

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Paik grew up listening to the piano his sisters played everyday, said Kubota. But whenever Paik hung around the piano, his father scolded him, saying that pianos are not for boys because they cannot make a living out of it. Not surprisingly, his father was furious when Paik announced that he would study music composition instead of law or business like his father told him to.

“That was only the beginning of his struggles as an artist. After his father died, Nam-june had no money. His mother used to say ‘spend money like water’ but Nam-june did not have money to do so. You know, it is easy to sell food in the supermarket but it is hard to sell art,” said Kubota.

Paik moved to New York, the mecca for artists, met Kubota, and the two fell in love.

“Being so poor, Nam-june didn’t want to get married and be responsible for his family but just wanted to concentrate on his art. That was his style of life, which I understood,” said Kubota.

Paik’s stubborn resistance against marriage broke down, however, finding out about Kubota’s uterine cancer. As Kubota had no insurance coverage in the U.S. and had to return to Japan for treatment, Paik proposed to her right away.

Another thing Paik was generous with, despite his lack of money, was buying materials for his works, Kubota remembered.

“One day, Nam-june brought home an ugly looking Buddha that he had bought at an antique store. Using it, he showcased his first ‘TV Buddha’ at an exhibition in Bonino Gallery, and it received great response. I thought ‘Oh, this guy is a genius.’ I couldn’t complain about how he uses money!” she said.

“This is a book for young artists to tell them to never give up. Everyone is poor in the beginning. Nam-june didn’t become a big artist in one day. Someday, it will happen to you. Art has more chance than Wall Street, you know,” added Kubota.

“There were a lot more sensational stories that Kubota told me, said Nam “But I couldn’t write it in the book because the people involved are still alive. The book still contains very dramatic stories.”

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

올리브앤코; 미술작품이 그려진 티셔츠

Wear your art on your short sleeve

 

Some of Korea’s hottest contemporary artists have been offered a new way to promote their works -- through fashion.

Olive & Company, an apparel trading firm based in Korea, joined hands with Gana Art Gallery and Gallery LVS and launched a fashion brand named “Olivenco” last week.

The brand features T-shirts and bags featuring artworks by 13 artists such as Bae Bien-u, Seo Sukwon, Mari Kim, Wee Young-il and Kang Young-min.

“This will be an opportunity to familiarize the public with high-end culture and promote Korean artists in the world market,” said Olive Kim, president of Olive & Company, at a press conference last week.

While there have been collaborations between artists and companies that produce various goods like stationery, clothes, furniture and cars, the launching of Olivenco is notable because it is not another one-time project but a brand with long-term goals, aiming for the overseas market.

Artist Kang Young-min’s painting and T-shirts featuring his works                                      Olivenco

The brand’s lines will be distributed worldwide through specialty chain stores which include GAP, Limited too, Express and Chico’s. Olivenco already inked a contract with GAP to export 2.5 million T-shirts to the U.S. market starting August or September.

Olivenco expects to make more than 12 billion won ($10 million) worth of sales per year through the exportations, explained Kim.

“We plan on increasing the number of participating artists to 100 with the help from Gana Art Gallery and Gallery LVS. Japanese artist Takashi Murakami leaped to fame after collaborating with Louis Vuitton. We want to set examples like that,” said Kim. 　

Once the artists successfully gain recognition in other countries through the T-shirt sales, the organizers will hold steady exhibitions for the artists there, said Kim. Olivenco will also work with non-profit groups such as UNICEF, Jeju Olle, Another Way of Seeing and World Art Therapy Association.

Olivenco products are sold through G market and at www.olivenco.com. T-shirt prices range from 49,000 won to 59,000 won. Offline shops will soon open at Gana Art Gallery in Pyeongchang-dong and at Garosugil in Sinsa-dong.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)

Germany opposed Japan’s plot to take Gojong to Japan

Germany took regarded Japan’s attempt to take Emperor Gojong to Nagasaki during the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese war negatively, a note written by Kaiser Wilhem II deciphered yesterday shows.

Kaiser Wilhelm II’s handwritten message on the left side of the secret telegram sent by Saldern, German envoy in Seoul, to the foreign ministry in Germany on Feb. 14, 1905, expresses doubt about the plan, Jung Sang-su, research professor and lecturer at Myongji University, told The Korea Herald.

“It says ‘There will be no results.’ Considering Wilhelm II’s usual cynical way of saying things, it is likely that he meant that the transfer of Gojong would not easily be accomplished. We can see that he had a negative stance toward Japan’s plan,” said Jung.

A copy of the telegram that was sent by Saldern, the German envoy in Korea, to the German Foreign Ministry on Feb. 14, 1905. A handwritten note by Kaiser Wilhelm II is seen on the lower left side. Lee Sang-sub/ The Korea Herald

Saldern wrote in the telegram, “The Japanese are trying to transfer Gojong to Japan. Gojong refused, worried that he would not be able to come back.”

Several diplomatic documents, including the telegram dated Feb. 14, 1905, obtained by The Korea Herald show that Japan attempted to take Emperor Gojong to Nagasaki during the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War.

According to the documents, Gojong resisted the plan and Russian Czar Nicholas II opposed it, but the British are said to have agreed to the removal the emperor as well as the annexation plan. Then-U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt postponed his decision on the establishment of protectorate over Korea but criticized the plan to remove Emperor Gojong. The documents also show how the Japanese viewed Emperor Gojong as a major obstacle to annexing Korea.

“I do not know the details about Japan’s attempt to take Emperor Gojong to Nagasaki. But it is not a surprise that Japan planned such a thing,” said Yi Seok, nephew of King Sun-jong, the last monarch, after hearing the news.

“I have heard many stories about Emperor Gojong’s sufferings. He was slapped in the face by the five Eulsa traitors for refusing to sign the Eulsa Treaty (1905 Protectorate Treaty),” Yi said, adding that Gojong also appealed to Nicholas II saying that he wanted to die in Russia.

“I haven’t seen documents regarding this issue in Japanese diplomatic documents, but it can be recognized as a fact as the plot was discussed in German diplomatic dispatches. There is possibility that the Japanese military authorities came up with the plan as the follow-up step to their victory in the Russo-Japanese war, to completely deprive Korea of its diplomatic powers,” said Lee Tae-jin, honorary history professor at Seoul National University.

“Civilian politicians like Ito Hirobumi asserted on establishing a protectorate over Korea by simply taking away Korea’s diplomatic powers, but some hard-liners, like the military authorities, insisted on immediate annexation of Korea in 1905, as soon as the Russo-Japanese war ended. It is likely that the hard-liners came up with the plot to take Gojong to Nagasaki but it was blocked when Ito Hirobumi opposed the immediate annexation of Korea,” said Lee.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

Gojong’s Korea caught in international power struggles

Emperor Gojong, the second-to-last ruler of Joseon, suffered from invasion attempts from world powers throughout his reign from 1863 to 1907, culminating in the annexation of the country by Japan in three years later.

Afraid for his life after the murder of his wife, Empress Myeongseong, by Japan on Oct. 8, 1895, Gojong and his crown prince fled his palace, Gyeongbokgung, the following Feb. 11 and sought refuge at the Russian legation in Jeong-dong, Seoul. The flight to the Russian legation building took place in secrecy and was arranged by pro-Russian officials, including Yi Beom-jin and Lee Wan-yong.

Emperor Gojong, center, with his court aides (Yonhap News)

A renovated tower, the only remaining part of the Russian legation building in Seoul. (Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald)

During Gojong’s one-year stay at the Russian legation, Russia exercised great influence on Korea’s internal governance. Russian officers were invited to Korean ministries and the army was reformed following the Russian manner using Russian arms.

Members of the old cabinet, including Kim Hong-jip, Eo Yun-jung, and Yu Gil-jun, were killed or forced to flee while pro-Russian figures were named to the new cabinet. Trade and resource concessions were granted to Russia and other Western powers, including the United States.

Facing pressure from both in and outside the country to break away from the Russian influence, Gojong returned to his palace -- not to Gyeongbokgung but to Gyeongungung (later renamed Deoksugung) -- on Feb. 25, 1897. He stayed there until Jan. 21, 1919, when he is alleged to have been poisoned by the Japanese.

Japan, which had long desired to invade Korea, was alarmed by Russia’s movements. The conflict between the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea led to the Russo-Japanese war which broke out on Feb. 8, 1904.

Being situated between the two major powers, Korea was a strategic point for both Japan and Russia. As the outbreak of the war became imminent, Gojong formally proclaimed Korea’s neutrality in January 1904.

Japan, however, sent troops to Seoul, occupied a number of buildings and forced the signing of a Korea-Japan protocol agreement on Feb. 23, 1904. The protocol provided legal justification for whatever political or military actions Japan might wish to take in Korea.

Japan also insisted that Japanese “government advisers” should be installed in Korean ministries and forced Korea to sign a new agreement on Aug. 22, 1904, which “invited” Japanese advisers to the peninsula. Starting with financial adviser Megata Tanetaro, a high official of the Japanese Ministry of Finance, Japan created a “government by advisers” in Korea, which took over the actual administrative authority. Korean ministers who had been accredited to Germany, France, Japan, China and other countries were recalled.

Following Japan’s victory in Russo-Japanese war on Sept. 5, 1905, the two countries signed the Treaty of Portsmouth in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Aug. 10, 1905, in which Russia acknowledged that Japan possessed paramount political, military, and economic interests in Korea. Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. president at the time, had stepped in to mediate the terms.

In fact, before the Portsmouth Treaty was signed, Japan and the U.S. secretly signed the Taft-Katsura Agreement on July 29, 1905, in which the U.S. agreed to acquiesce to Japan’s domination of Korea in exchange for Japan’s recognition of U.S. hegemony over the Philippines.

England also acknowledged Japan’s right to take appropriate measures for the “guidance, control and protection” of Korea in renegotiating the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance on Aug. 12, 1905.

Having won recognition from Russia, England and the U.S., Japan moved to establish a protectorate over Korea and sent Ito Hirobumi, a former prime minister, to Korea in November 1905. Ito forced Emperor Gojong to sign the 1905 Protectorate Treaty, also known as the Eulsa Treaty, on Nov. 17, 1905 despite Gojong’s refusal.

The treaty gave Japan full authority over all aspects of Korea’s relations with foreign countries and provided the post of Japanese Resident-General, who would be directly under the Korean emperor, to take charge of Korea’s foreign relations. Ito served as the first Resident-General.

Despite having signed the protectorate treaty, Emperor Gojong worked furtively to invalidate the document, seeking international help.

A telegram sent to Germany’s foreign minister by Gojong on Nov. 24, 1905 has been found, in which Gojong writes that the Japanese used military force to make him sign the treaty, which cannot be approved of according to international law.

In June 1907 Gojong secretly sent envoys to Hague Peace Conference in June 1907 to let the world know of the injustice done in Korea. The mission failed, however, as the president of the conference ruled that Korea was not entitled to participate, having lost authority over its own diplomatic affairs. However, the worldwide publicity the incident received did create considerable international furor.

Japan used the incident as a pretext to further strengthen its power over Korea, demanding that Gojong accept responsibility for the incident by abdicating.

Gojong’s second son, Sunjong became emperor in July 1907 and was later forced to issue a proclamation yielding both his throne and his country on Aug. 29, 1910.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)

[단독] 일본, 고종 납치하려했다

 [Exclusive] Japan attempted to take Gojong to Nagasaki

 

Documents show Gojong resisted the plan, Russian Czar Nicholas II opposed the plan, Roosevelt criticized it while acknowledging the protectorate treaty.

Japan attempted to take Emperor Gojong to Nagasaki during the 1904-1905 Russo–Japanese War, diplomatic documents obtained by The Korea Herald show.

The documents show how the Japanese viewed Emperor Gojong as a major obstacle to annexing Korea and planned to take him to Nagasaki.

The plan is discussed in the various diplomatic dispatches. The documents also indicate active interest by various powers on the issue. The Russians opposed the plan, the British are said to have agreed with the removal the emperor as well as the annexation plan and President Roosevelt of the U.S. postponed his decision on the establishment of protectorate over Korea but criticized the plan to remove Emperor Gojong.

Gojong goes on an outing upon hearing the news of his son King Yeongchin's return from Japan. (Yonhap News)

 

A copy of the letter sent by Lev Urusov, Russian envoy in Vienna, to Agenor Goluchowski, foreign minister of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy on April 30, 1905. The underlined paragraph reads: “The foreign ministry has recently recognized, from a reliable source, that the Mikado government had the intention to transfer the Emperor of Korea to Japan and install him at a palace built for this purpose in Nagasaki.”

 

Karoly Fendler, lecturer of Korean history at Budapest University ELTE, Hungary

 

Jung Sang-su, history department research professor and lecturer at Myongji University (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)

Hand-copied pages of the 26-page report “Japanese intention to take the Korean Emperor to Mokko.” Karoly Fendler copied the content by hand because the Foreign Policy Archives of Russian Empire prohibits making photocopies. (Karoly Fendler)

A copy of the telegram sent by Saldern, the German envoy in Korea, to the German Foreign Ministry on Feb. 14, 1905. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)

Karoly Fendler, lecturer of Korean history at Budapest University ELTE, Hungary, and foreign researcher for overseas historical materials at National Institute of Korean History, discovered a 26-page report titled “Japanese intention to take the Korean Emperor to Mokko” at the Russian Empire’s Foreign Political Archives in Moscow. Earlier, in the 1990s, Fendler found a letter at the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv (HHSA) in Vienna, Austria, pointing to the existence of a Japanese plan to have Emperor Gojong moved to Nagasaki.

The Russian government first received information about the alleged Japanese plan from its legation in Belgrade, Serbia, on April 22, 1905, according to the correspondence between the Russian Foreign Ministry and its diplomatic missions contained in the report found in the Russian archive.

The Russian ambassador in Belgrade reported to Count V.N. Lamsdorf, Russia’s foreign minister, that G. Fontaine, the first secretary of the French embassy in Belgrade, had received the news from Tokyo concerning the plan to transfer Emperor Gojong.

“’The wheels of diplomacy’ started to move faster,” said Fendler in an e-mail interview with The Korea Herald.

The first piece of information from Belgrade was sent to Czarskoe Selo, the residence of Russian czars near St. Petersburg, without delay, on April 26, 1905 and Czar Nicholas II wrote “This Japanese activity must be prevented somehow” in Russian on the letter.

“The fact that Nicholas II was upset is understandable, not only because the Russo-Japanese War was still going on, but also because of the cruelties the Japanese committed in Korea; the killing of Queen Min in 1895, trudging on international agreements and not considering Korea as a neutral independent state at that time,” said Fendler.

The next day, on April 27, 1905, Czar Nicholas II ordered that a secret telegram about the Japanese intention to transfer the Korean Emperor to Japan be sent to all Russian embassies -- including those in Berlin, London, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Washington, the Hague, Copenhagen and Beijing.

The letter Fendler discovered at HHSA is dated April 30, 1905. In it, Lev Urusov, the Russian ambassador in Vienna, relays the same information about the Japanese plan to move Gojong to Nagasaki to Agenor Goluchowski, foreign minister of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

“During the war, the Russian czarist government warned European governments to pay attention to Japan’s illegal, aggressive activity against Korea, in Korea and against the independence and neutrality of the Korean state,” said Fendler. Following the instruction of his government on Japan’s Korea policy, Urusov wrote the letter based on information from Russian foreign ministry’s sources, Fendler said.

While most of the replies from Russian missions said they had passed on “the Russian objection” to the respective governments, the replies from the English and the Chinese are the most interesting, said Fendler.

“We have to the best of my belief, never heard that it was the intention of the Japanese government to deport the Emperor of Corea (Korea), but I am asking enquiries, and hope to be able to make you aware before long of the manner in which the question is regarded by H.M. (His Majesty)’s Government,” British Foreign Minister Lord Lansdown replied.

At Lansdown’s request, the Japanese ambassador in London obtained a message from Japanese Foreign Secretary Komura that “the Japanese government is not planning to transfer the Korean emperor to Japan,” according to a telegram sent by Russian ambassador in London.

“It seems that the Japanese foreign minister was only denying the ‘transfer’ and not the existence of the plan,” said Fendler.

Kazakov, the Russian diplomat in Beijing, sent a telegram to Moscow from Beijing on May 1, 1905, saying that “I asked about the Chinese government’s reaction to this. They avoided giving a straight reply, saying that they cannot take sides yet, as they do not have any information about the question.”

The Russian envoy in Belgrade, the writer of the first report on the issue, sent another report on May 10 confirming his previous information. This time he enclosed Fontaine’s original report on the matter. The report, written in French on a thin, small, transparent piece of paper, read that the Japanese government was preparing to transport the Korean emperor to Japan, where a castle had already been built for him in Nagasaki.

Indeed, diplomatic dispatches between the German mission in Korea and the German foreign ministry discovered in August 2008 by Jung Sang-su, research professor and lecturer at Myongji University, at the German foreign minister’s political document archive show that Germany, Britain and the U.S. were paying close attention to Japan’s attempt to take Gojong.

A secret telegram sent by Saldern, German envoy in Seoul, to the foreign ministry in Germany on Feb. 14, 1905, reads: “The Japanese are trying to transfer Gojong to Japan. Gojong refused, worried that he would not be able to come back.”

A handwritten message is seen on the left side of the telegram, which is likely to have been written by Kaiser Wilhelm II, Jung told The Korea Herald. “The Emperor only made notes on very important telegrams. He probably read this one because it was marked secret. The letters, however, are blurry because they were written with a pencil, so it is hard to identify the specific content of the message,” said Jung.

Another telegram sent by Saldern on June 2, 1905, mentions British and U.S. reactions to Japan’s attempts. Bulow, the German prime minister, and Richthofen, the foreign minister, signed on the telegram that they had read it.

“Since a few weeks ago, Japan has been sounding Britain out about establishing a protectorate over Korea and dethroning Gojong to take him to Japan. Britain agreed on it. Japan inquired the U.S. about the same matter. Roosevelt postponed his decision about establishing a protectorate over Korea but criticized the plan to depose Gojong and take him to Japan,” reads the telegram.

“This could be the reason why Japan did not take Gojong. According to the latter part of the telegram, Morgan, U.S. minister in Seoul, said that the U.S. would aggressively intervene in the parts that are related to U.S. interests. This would mean economic interests, such as the establishment of the Hanseong electricity company. The United States probably thought that they would have to redo all the negotiations if Gojong was gone,” said Jung.

Jung said that Japan tried to take Gojong because they knew the Korean Emperor was the biggest obstacle for the annexation of Korea.

“Ever since the Russian legislation withdrew from Seoul immediately after the Russo-Japanese war began, Gojong tried to break away from Japan’s intensified control. He was looking for ways to take refuge in the German or the U.S. legation even before the actual outbreak of the war, so Japan must have searched for ways to get rid of Gojong. Gojong offered stout resistance, so it is likely that Japan later took Crown Prince Yeongchin instead,” said Jung. Yeongchin was taken to Japan in 1907 on the pretext of having the prince study there.

“The findings show that the first steps of Japan’s forced annexation of Korea were already being taken in early 1905. At the same time, we can see how Gojong stubbornly resisted Japan’s attempts, and tried to maintain Korea’s independence,” said Jung.

Not many, however, are aware of Japan’s attempt to remove Emperor Gojong.

“The fact is not yet known in Korea because no information about the matter has been found here and Japan would never leave such documents open. It was a very secret plan in Japan. None of the documents specifically mention who was the main force responsible for the plan, whether it was Ito Hirobumi or someone else, but just refers to ‘the Japanese,’” said Jung. Ito Hirobumi was Japan’s first resident-general in Korea.

However, Japan’s attempt to take Gojong was considered an important matter internationally, judging from the frequency of the telegrams sent by the German envoy.

“The German envoy in Seoul only sent telegrams to his country on very important issues, less than 10 a year,” said Jung.

“Japan probably had various ideas at the moment, and transferring Gojong seemed to have been one of them. Though it was not achieved, it is possible that many foreign ambassadors around the world had the information about the attempt. This shows what a dead-end situation Koreans faced at the time, not knowing Japan’s next action,” said Lee Min-won, head of East Asia History and Culture Research Institute.

“The diplomatic objection of czarist Russia was successful. The reactions coming from different European capitals made Japan give up such unlawful steps. They also had to take into consideration the huge international scandal caused by the killing of Korean Queen Min in 1895 by the Japanese,” said Fendler.

“Today, it is difficult to find out how real the French information received from Tokyo through Belgrade was. The final answer might possibly be found in the Japanese archives, which are difficult to get to,” Fendler said.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)

남자분들, 란스미어 가보셨나요?

Classic suit multi shop attracts fashion savvy men

 

Shops offering selected items from many high-quality brands at one stop are steadily gaining ground. Those that feature casual clothes for men and women like 10 Corso Como, Daily Projects and Boon The Shop are already well-known among the fashion savvy.

What might be a bit less familiar is a multi-brand shop exclusively for men, featuring classic suits. Lansmere, Korea’s first multi-brand street shop for suits in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, offers hand-made suits and accessories by some 50 British and Italian premium brands.

A man looks at jackets at Lansmere multi-brand shop in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. Kim Myung-sub/ The Korea Herald

Meaning “the lake where the best wool grows” in Italian, Lansmere is actually the name of a high quality fabric -- Lansmere 220, the world’s first 170-yarn-count fabric, and Lansmere 230, a 230-yarn-count fabric -- produced by Cheil Industries.

Cheil Industries later launched Lansmere, a high-priced ready-made men’s suit brand in 2005 but two years later shifted to custom-made suits and renovated the shop into a multi-brand shop. Now, visitors can either choose their pick from the wide array of brands or order a Lansmere tailor-made suit at the shop.

“Lansmere is a very high-end brand, so it had its limits when it produced ready-made suits. You see, women have bags and jewelry to complete their fashion, but men’s only jewelry is watches. So fashion-savvy men focus on bespoke suits which are uniquely made for them. That is why we turned to custom-made suits,” said Alan Nam, brand manager at Lansmere.

Cufflinks of various designs showcased. Kim Myung-sub/ The Korea Herald

“Korean men tend to wear suits that are too big for them and think it is comfortable because it is big. That is not right. Suits that really fit you perfectly are those that are comfortable even if they are slim and tight around your body. Men who really know how to dress wear tailor-made suits. In Britain, about 10 to 15 percent of the men wear tailor-made suits but in Korea, only 3 to 4 percent do.”

Nam explained that classic, however, does not mean conservative.

“A classic suit means that it has tradition and value because it is of very high quality, made by master tailors. It stays the same for decades and it is something that a father and son can share. It makes the wearer look more attractive, younger and even sexier all the while being very comfortable,” said Nam.

Brands featured at the shop include suit brands Cesare Attolini, Isaia, Sartoria Partenopea and Boglioli; shirt brands Orian and Fray; outerwear brands such as Herno, knitwear brands Paolo Pecola and Luciano Barberra, necktie brands Drake’s and Eredi Chiarini, sock brands like Sozzi Calze, shoe brands Tanino Crisci, Cordwainer, Enzo Bonafe, Sutor Mantellassi and Magnanni and accessory brands Bill Amberg and Pineider.

Whether the brands’ names are well-known among the Korean customers or not is not at all an issue when selecting the brands. Lansmere’s staff focus on finding handmade items of the best quality.

Colorful bowties grab attention. Kim Myung-sub/ The Korea Herald

“That is probably why our major customers are classic suit enthusiasts or self-employed men that know fashion and are financially well off. Executives or CEOs of large companies prefer to wear famous brands that are popular within their circles but our customers do not like logos that stand out too much and rather go for the real classic looks,” said Nam.

“I try on all the suits before contracting them, to see if they are really what we are looking for. Unlike machine-made suits which uncomfortably bind your body, handmade suits better adjust to your body with time.”

Nam emphasized that the shop does not sell “brands” but sells a “way of dressing.”

“I give tips to our customers on how to dress and how to organize their wardrobe. This jacket, for example, looks like it is a two-button jacket but is actually a three-button jacket. You are supposed to fasten only the middle button and let the top button naturally disappear from sight below the collars. You should never leave it at some random dry cleaners because they will iron it all wrong,” said Nam.

Nam added that a nice jacket, maybe brown or navy, is a must-have item in every men’s wardrobe.

A view of Lansmere multi-brand shop. Kim Myung-sub/ The Korea Herald

“It can be matched with any shirts or pants. If you want a formal look, match it with gray pants and if you want a brighter look, match it with light colors like sky blue, pink, orange or ivory. It is an economical and practical but a stylish way of dressing. But the jacket should be of really good quality.”

For more information on Lansmere, call (02) 542-4177.



By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

Park Soo-keun painting to be auctioned in U.S.

A painting by prominent Korean artist Park Soo-keun will be put up for auction at the Important Two Day Auction by John McInnis Auctioneers in Ogunquit, Maine, on July 16 and 17.

The painting “A Seated Woman,” with Park’s name signed in Hangeul and dated 1956 on the back, retains the original frame and paper label.

The original owner was Alva Gimbel, a supporter of Dr. Howard Rusk who often traveled to Korea during the Korean War for medical missions between 1953 and 1967.

“A Seated Woman” by Park Soo-keun John McInnis Auctioneers

Known as the father of rehabilitation medicine, Rusk was elected president of the American Korean Foundation in 1954 and founded the Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at New York University Medical Center, which was renamed the Howard H. Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in 1984. He was supported by several prominent individuals including Gimbel in his humanitarian efforts.

Gimbel assisted Rusk on one of his trips to Seoul where she acquired “A Seated Woman.” The painting has been kept with a family member and has never been out of the family since it was acquired in the 1950s.

The painting is in its original, untouched condition and it is estimated it will sell for between $200,000 and $300,000.

The auction house had sold another of Park’s paintings, of a seated woman contemplating a bowl, in October 2008. The 1956 painting was sold for $460,000.

Next week’s auction will also feature other items of fine art, a large collection of Asian and Japanese antiquities, jewelry and furniture.

For more information, visit www.mcinnisauctions.com


By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

칼럼스갤러리 장동조대표 인터뷰

[Gallery Talk] Art dealer matches clients, artworks

 

This is the tenth in a 10-part series on prominent art galleries in Korea. –Ed



Considering that art is a form of therapy, a therapist could not be a more perfect candidate for a switch to art dealing. Jang Dong-jo, founder and director of The Columns Gallery in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul, is one.

He started his career as a therapist and counselor for psychiatric patients at Rockwell Continuing Treatment Center in Brooklyn in 1984 after studying special education and rehabilitation counseling at New York University graduate school.

“My father founded Chungryangni Mental Hospital and my brother is currently the director there. Our house used to be right next to the hospital, so my heart always went out to the patients in my youth. My original dream was to become a professional in social welfare and patient treatment who can help patients better adjust to the society,” said Jang.

But the concern for psychiatric patients was not the only influence from Jang‘s father. His father, also an art collector, often took him to museums and galleries and Jang developed a love for art. Jang naturally headed to galleries in New York too, whenever he had time.

The Columns Gallery founder and director Jang Dong-jo Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald

“Seeing the cutting-edge contemporary arts there, I had the urge to study them more professionally. So I started taking fine art appraisal courses at NYU every evening after work and began my own collection with the money I earned through part time therapy works,” he said.

“I bought some prints by Andy Warhol and David Hockney and witnessed their prices double in less than six months! I sold them and bought more expensive works that I’d always wanted. Realizing that art also brings back money, my interest expanded to art dealing, auctions and art fairs. My hobby started to get professionalized.”

In 1994, the time was tough for the New York art scene but luck was on Jang‘s side. He found an empty gallery in SOHO which the former owner had left behind, right across the street from the gallery owned by the legendary American dealer Leo Castelli, and opened his own.

Yes, it was almost an impossible task for an Asian therapist, who had never stepped foot in New York before 1983 or specialized in arts, to begin an art business at that time. But the amazing network of artists, gallerists and collectors he built during his NYU and gallery hopping days was all he had and all he needed, it turned out.

“It is true that galleries are all about networks. I learned a lot about running art businesses from people I met at fine art appraisal courses and also at parties. They were interested in me because I was the only Asian in most gatherings and they seemed to be comfortable talking to me once they knew that I was not someone from their world but an innocent therapist simply interested in art. My counseling experiences as a therapist helped a lot in making discussions, too. I’m sure that only if this were not an interview, I could have you tell me everything about yourself in less than 30 minutes,” said Jang with a chuckle.

His first exhibition was on George Segal. He could not exhibit Segal’s new works because the artist was already contracted with a prominent gallery but a close collector lent him his collection of Segal’s old works.

The artist himself visited Jang’s gallery on the opening day, curious to see that a young Korean man is holding an exhibition with his old works. Words spread that Segal paid a personal visit there and Jang’s “InKhan Gallery” jumped to fame.

One successful exhibition led to many others, such as shows on Arman, with whom he became friends over a couple games of Baduk, Jesus Rafael Soto and Bill Thompson.

Despite the success, however, Jang decided to return to Korea in 1999, when Korea was suffering from a severe economic crisis.

“Something told me that it was time to go back and that it was then or never. It was a hard time but I thought that if I made it in New York, I could do it again in Korea,” said Jang.

Before opening The Columns Gallery in 2005, he tried out many things like Space Kitchen, a cultural complex he ran in Hannam-dong for a year in 1999, and the “Art Metro” project which he conducted for four years.

For the “Art Metro” project, Jang transformed two carriages of Subway Line No. 6 and No. 7 into a moving art museum with help from many young artists. The passenger occupancy rate shot up more than 25 percent during the project period.

Jang finally opened The Columns gallery in Cheongdam-dong in 2005. He had spent all his savings on the “Art Metro” project so he had to take out a loan. The Korean art market luckily boomed in 2006 and 2007, getting him ready for 2008 when the market practically collapsed.

“If there is a good time, there is a bad time. I don’t understand big galleries that are reluctant to hold exhibitions during bad times, afraid of small losses, although they probably earned a fortune during the boom days. Galleries are also meant to give back to society. I hired staff and held exhibitions every month despite losses in 2008,” said Jang.

The steady exhibitions attracted regular visitors and Jang’s gallery soon took root. Jang’s talent in expanding connections proved itself once again as some of Korea’s established artists like Chun Kwang-young contracted with The Columns, based on their acquaintance. The gallery moved to its current location in Sinsa-dong in April.

“I am not interested in buying big buildings, growing the gallery into a big enterprise or launching branches abroad. I am thankful that I have this great space to hold high-quality exhibitions and hope it can keep on going,” said Jang.

“I don’t sell works to anybody. I only sell them when I find a perfect owner for the works after I conduct long talks with the clients s to find out his or her character, aesthetic values and future plans. Without deep considerations like this, the artwork could lose its vitality like trees that cannot adjust to a new environment,” he added.

The gallery is currently holding an exhibition on Michael Wesely, a German photographer. For more information on the exhibition or on the gallery, call (02) 3442-6301 or visit www.columns.co.kr.



By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

 

Summer styling tips from Tory Burch

Tory Burch, one of the world’s hottest designers, held a styling class for VIP clients and some power bloggers last Thursday at the Tory Burch flagship store in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, which opened on the previous day.

The Cheongdam store is the biggest of all Tory Burch’s shops and shows off a totally new concept. The first floor appears to be like any other boutique, but the second floor is decorated like a miniature of Burch’s home in New York, with a library and a living room.

“It was inspired by my apartment so it is different. Like the colors -- the walls are of green velvet in my house. But the place is very similar to my place, so when I first walked in here, I thought ‘Wow,’” said Burch.

Burch introduced nine different summer looks with the help of three models. The nine styles included a neutral dress accessorized with metallic jewelry, a black dress -- which became the brand’s number one seller after actress Gwyneth Paltrow was spotted in it -- with flesh-tone shoes that elongate the legs, and a boy-meets-girl look for which she matched a loose top that could have belonged to one’s husband or boyfriend with a very feminine sequin skirt. 

Tory Burch (second from left) poses with models after her styling class at the Tory Burch flagship store in Cheongdam-dong on June 24. Tory Burch

Among the showcased garments, the famous Tory Tunic, which made the brand famous, received many admiring looks from the audience.

“I actually got the idea for the design from a tunic I found at a flea market in Paris. I bought it for $30,” said Burch.

She also showed a dark knit-dress that can be perfect for both day and evening. The idea for the design came from a dress her mother used to wear in the 1960s. Burch confessed how she had coveted it so much and tried to steal it from her mother‘s closet.

More inspirations were found during her short stay in Korea, said Burch.

“I was inspired from how women dress here, how they put together different items in a way that looks nice and can also show their personalities,” she said.

“We’re working on smaller heels, which I guess it will work in your market, too, because I see many of you wearing small heels. I’m excited that I’ve already started.”

If you want to add some accent to your looks, try custom jewelry or belts, suggested Burch. No need to worry about matching them perfectly.

“I love when things don’t necessarily match. We just throw them in together and make them look chic,” said Burch.

Burch launched a fashion label named “TRB by Tory Burch,” which she later changed to “Tory Burch” -- in New York in February 2004. It was an immediate success, as the store was almost completely sold out on the opening day. The brand now has over 600 shops worldwide and records some 300 billion won in sales every year.





By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)