The streets were a web of alleyways which were easy to get lost in. Old men and women took shelter in the shade as the burning sun filled the air. Many were smoking, like what seems nearly all Koreans do. $3 a pack is too good to pass off I guess. A group of men, drinking rice wine the clock at noon stared and chatted to themselves as three tall white men walked past them sweaty and red faced. Older people tend to be relaxing, or working. Working way too hard for someone of that age. But it is probably all they have ever done. For the good of the nation. For the sake of living.
Our ears tuned in to a strange song being blasted from speakers at gramaphonic quality. Will managed to get a Zoom quality recording, I only had my phone at the time but here it is anyway:
I have no idea what it was for, or what it was about but it was interesting.
After our time exploring we met up with media artist Junebum Park in a slightly too noisy cafe filled with people escaping the summer heat. We talked about his artworks and in particular I asked him the following questions (paraphrased):
"Do you make artworks with a particular message, or do you allow the audience to decide the meaning themselves"
"If someone interprets it completely the opposite of what you meant, do you see that as a failure of yourself or of the audience"
"When you lack inspiration should you walk away from a work, or instead try to push through it"
The first two tie in and are related. He said how once the artwork leaves his hand its entirely up to them to do with it what they want. He definitely makes the work to express his own voice and experiences, but accepts and respects that other people will look at it in other ways. He wasn't concerned too much if they see it wrongly. As for inspiration he said how you should kind of step back, but keep the problem in your head as you will eventually able to make it through. The last question was probably the most important to me because I find myself in similar situations mainly when it comes to composing music for a project. Peaks of inspiration happen when i'm the most busy (and unable to record) whilst when it comes time to sit down and get it done, i've got nothing.
---No more exploration of the project below---
Afterwards I hung out with Jacob, Anthony, Xuan and Will and we went to a dog cafe in Hapjeong (near where I am staying). Mainly fun touristy good times.
