{Seoul} City Adventures

I have never been to Seoul before this trip, so it seemed natural for me to stay a few more days after the installation was completed; this way I can explore the city a little bit. The way the city has preserved the heritage buildings fascinated me, because unlike Beijing, the palace is quite humble in Seoul. Its walls are lower, and the paint less shiny. When walking in Insa-dong, one can also see traditional houses juxtaposed immediately next to modern galleries. It makes a very interesting walk. My mind was traveling through time as my eyes wandered on the street. The rest of Seoul seemed quite homogeneous--condos and office buildings make up most of its urban fabric. The major streets are four to six lane wide, making it very difficult for the pedestrians to cross. Though when I turned the corner and find myself in a neighborhood lined with little stores and cozy cafes, the scale of the city suddenly changed. I felt comfortable and the city around me seemed tangible and relevant to my tiny body.

{Seoul} Epiphyte Chamber Install

I've put my Thesis aside since October to work full time on organizing the ACADIA conference that happened at the architecture school at the end of October. As soon as the conference was over, I packed my bags and boarded a plane with the rest of the Philip Beesley team to put together an installation sculpture at the MMCA Seoul. We got over the jetlag pretty quickly because having very little sleep prior to traveling half way across the world helps with adjusting one's sleep schedule.

For the first 13 days while in Seoul, we climbed scaffolds, assembled glass chains, put together spars and fiddled with electronics. Although we spent most of our time in the museum, we've gotten to see glimpses of the Korean experience--we dined on the floor and watched a shaman performance to say the least. With many many wonderful hands and help, the installation turned out incredible. You can see more pictures of it here. P.S. I heard it will be on the December issue of Korean Vogue!