Busan, South Korea: Day 4

Day 4: Art Museum & Food Hunting

So the last day has come! With the sudden solo trip, I was actually looking forward to this vacation to be over so I could be with Caoliang again. Yes I was happy and thankful I got to travel somewhere but it was bittersweet being that I had to leave Caoliang behind.

Well the last day had come and because I already had done everything I wanted to do, I decided to take the day at a nice slow pace. In no hurry, I left the hotel about 12:30 and headed off to the Busan Museum of Art. I wasn’t sure what they were exhibiting but I didn’t really care. I enjoy most art museums and am always curious to see how other countries display their art. Originally I didn’t plan on staying at the museum so long but by the time I left, I realized I had spent over three hours there!

The museum wasn’t so difficult to find and looking from the outside, it looked very typical of other art museums I’ve seen before. Big boxy, stone walls, large sculptures in the garden in front of the entrance, Busan’s Museum of Art fit right in with art museums around the world. It costed me 3,000 won to see the regular exhibits they had on display. Pretty cheap I thought (about $3). The museum had large halls that were very minimalist in decor and design. I found myself in a DIY craft room and immediately got excited. Looking back on it now, I probably entered the exhibit backwards as people probably participated in the crafts once they were done looking at the exhibit but I didn’t care. If anything, making the crafts got me excited about the artist and actual exhibit!

I hadn’t been able to cut and glue paper in a while and just seeing the tools and papers laid out for guest to use was really stimulating. The room was empty so I took my time just focusing on the paper, colors, and placing them on the sheet to create something new. I left my masterpiece up on the wall with the other pieces of art other people left. I was happy to be alone in the room the whole time and to be able to make something I could leave there for others to look at.

After I left the paper and scissors, I came across another room with postcards that were like coloring book pages. The postcards had designs that came from the featured artists’ paintings but were blank in color, leaving it up the the viewers to fill in the colors. There were about three postcard designs and many crayons to use. Again, I just sat down and starting coloring. It wasn’t as therapeutic as the paper and scissors but it was still nice to do.

The featured artist whose DIY craft rooms were in association with, was Yoo Youngkuk. His works were bold, colorful, abstract but what attracted me most to this artist was his timeline. Fortunately, the museum plaques were also in English and when looking at his timeline I felt hopeful in being an artist. Starting his career as an artist in the 1930s, Youngkuk struggled with his career as an artist. He actually went through phases of his life where he didn’t have art in the center of it. He also went through different styles and seemed to struggle in finding his style of art. As someone who dabbles into art here and there (it’s hard for me to call myself a real artist), I have always struggled in finding what is my style. I’ve always loved art and creating things, but I still don’t know what my exact style is. When I read Youngkuk’s time line, it made me hopeful that it’s ok not to know your style - that it’s perfectly fine to continually experiment with different mediums, styles, and even jobs in the middle of trying to figure it all out. So definitely heading back home to Texas, Youngkuk’s journey will help me continue my own as a creative.

After absorbing Youngkuk’s pieces, I headed up to the third floor to see what else the museum had to offer. The next exhibit I came across was titled Unclosed Door. This exhibit focused on our senses and how to experience art not only through sight but through our other senses as well. There were a couple rooms with about five pieces of art in each room. Overlapping the information plaques, there was the braille translation for the seeing impaired as well as a “textured” version of the art piece next to it. I thought it was pretty interesting approach but with such a good theme, the exhibit’s actual execution of it seemed lacking.

Across the corridor was another exhibit on display, Metropolis of Desire. This one really captured my attention. It, too, took up a few rooms but had much more interesting pieces in each room. From installation pieces, large looping light fixtures, traditional paintings and photographs, tents you can crawl into and a pile of painted twigs, this exhibit had it all.

“The modern city, which is a total of technology and capital, has become the main life space of mankind and is composed of the complicated life relationships of many people. The reason for recalling the word 'desire' in modern urban space is that the city is linked to 'spatial domination by capitalism'. Therefore, the city can be regarded as the 'desire of desire' in which there is intense competition of various interest groups preoccupying the capital and the dominant domain. The development of the city provided convenient and affluent life, but on the back of it, urban problems are also being created in various ways. According to Lacan's theory, the source of human life is desire, and the desire to lead the change of city, which is the product of human action. However, this desire is essentially an 'other's desire' and can never be satisfied. Absolutely 'unfulfilled desire' is a constant lack of feelings. The big city is captured by the desire of capital and creates a fantasy to satisfy it. The place and the image of the city which is dressed up as a glamorous object exist to show. In the end, urban people who have considered the city as a place of life experience alienation and deprivation in the welcoming of the city. Urban people are the subjects of the city, but they can not even reveal their presence and may even lose the real life space. This problem of identity loss is manifested by numerous problematic phenomena in the city, exerting a powerful influence on changes in human way of life and perception. The reason for paying attention to the mode of this metropolis is in the context of reason and reflection. In other words, we would like to ask the audience to identify the problems of contemporary cities conceived through the medium of 'art' and to ask questions.” -from Busan Museum of Art website

With such an interesting theme, you can imagine how creative and diverse the pieces of art were in this exhibit. Some of my favorites include a large, winding light fixture and a simple collage of different currency symbols.

I spent a lot of time within the walls of this exhibit and was happy to see such new and interesting pieces. Even though most of the artists and pieces were focused in a world halfway around the globe from where I grew up, the theme and questions it brought up showed how really much related we are as humans. Even with different cultures, humans really are the same at the core of it all.

Once I left the main exhibit, I decided to pay an additional 3,000 won to enter Lee Ufan’s building that was just across the lawn. His name was familiar to me because I remember going to see another one of his buildings on Naoshima just the year before. Ufan’s pieces are extremely simple. Just looking at them you probably would think, “I could do this!” I really had that thought when I first saw his stuff and didn’t grow a different understanding to it until I watched a video of him working in this building.

During the video, it showed Ufan creating a piece that had three obvious strokes. A massive canvas with just three wide strokes! But behind the strokes there was much more than the viewer could see or know. Ufan explained his process of creating and how it was a full mind and body meditation for him. From preparing the canvas, to mixing the paint, to deciding where the strokes will go, everything was very well thought out and had purpose. So i felt like what made Ufan’s art so special was not really the outcome but the process to get there. As a creative person, I took in this information as inspiration to create more and to create with purpose. Like many things in life or creation, sometimes it is more important the journey there then the actual destination or outcome. A lesson Ufan shows in each of his pieces.

Soon it was late afternoon and I was again, hungry. After getting my art fill, I remember reading somewhere that Shingae Mall had a big basement that was known for yummy foods. Even though I already had gone to Shingae Mall, I had not gone to the basement to check out the food so took my grumbling tummy as a perfect chance to check it out.

The food selection was like a maze! I had found myself in a specialty supermarket, like a Whole Foods, and within that super market were a couple food vendors. I hadn’t even fully walked around the basement but decided straight away to have a tofu skin soup bowl. It had costed me 5,500 won and was pretty tasty and filling. The atmosphere wasn’t really great for eating though since there were many passer byers and it felt like people mainly came here to shop, not sit down and eat. Once I was done, I got up and continued to explore. To my surprise, right around the corner to where I was, there was the whole basement floor with so many food places to choose from! If only I took a few more steps around the corner!!

Too bad I was already full from the soup I had earlier. But I couldn’t pass up all the good food without getting at least dessert! So I went to a spot that had ice cream as a specialty. There was a small line so I was hoping the taste would be promising. I ended up ordering this tiramisu with ice cream. My little sister makes amazing tiramisu and I crave for it! I got this in hopes of filling that craving. Unfortunately it was not as good as my little sister’s home made tiramisu and this dessert turned out looking better than it tasted.

It was a long day but relaxing day, so after getting my fill of food, I decided to check out Seomyeon Area for some shopping. I had read that there was a long underground strip of shops so I figured I just take a look there. I ended up buying a couple tops and phone case. There were so many little shops it was hard to contain myself. But with a budget for the trip, I had just enough to get me a few items before leaving the next morning.

Now it was my very last night so I wanted to be sure I saw everything I wanted to see. There was one more thing I thought would be cool to check out at night at that was the Busan Cinema Hall. It was getting late and I was becoming more tired but I had to keep in mind, this was my last night and who knows when I would be in Busan next! So I grabbed my shopping bags, looked at the route to get to the hall, and headed off.

Thankfully the lights in the hall were still up. This place was of such an interest to me because it had a bright, light up ceiling. I remember seeing the cinema hall in Seoul and it being like an alien spaceship, awesome architect and dreamy lighting. The Busan Cinema was just as mesmerizing. There weren't any shows going on since it was already past 9 pm, but there were people still walking around and some skate boarders taking advantage of the large concrete space. It was cool to take some photos and sit watching the changing lights. I'm a big fan of anything lit up so this was a real treat for my last night. I was happy I made the effort to check it out.

Four days of Busan completed!! Tired but filled with new memories and a new city checked off on my travel list, I was ready to return back to my love in Japan!! Thanks for keeping up throughout the whole trip! You guys rock!


xx
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