신호탄 (Pyrotechnics) Exhibition

It was here, about a month ago, at the Kimusa Exhibition opening, that I saw Emil for the last time. Emil held his last exhibit here.

Ever since that day, I have been longing to share more, but have been paralyzed. So it’s fitting that coming back for the opening of the 신호탄 (Pyrotechnics) Exhibition pushed me to share again...forgive me, but I am still a little rusty...

So...

The opening was kind of a reunion for friends who laid Emil to rest. We didn’t mention him much...but I could tell he was on all of our minds. Just seeing each other was reminder enough.


Happolice
by Marco Bruno and Simone Carena of Motoelastico

They are Italian Architect friends of Emil and now mine... Marco and Simone gutted and painted an entire military office building pink. They ended up demolishing major portions of it to allow the pinkness and music to ooze out and onto the surrounding public space.


Marco and Simone had their team weld custom police shields to the facade with the words 뽕짝 (bong jak) and Felice silk screened on them. Bong jak is Korean for a traditional “polka” dance and Felice is Italian for happy. They added music and pink florescent lights for even more pinkness and mood. The building is a caricature...a pink...happy...dancing...police station...dance hall.

You must go at night to feel the full effect of their work...


The Sublime - The Space of Heterotopia
by Airan Kang

Airan...whom I have not met...put together a multi-media, multi-dimensional exhibit that caught my attention. He created glowing books with embedded RFID so that when you bring a book into the “Reading Room” its contents are projected onto all the walls and accompanied by audio that sounds like the artist’s voice.


There were several books shelves with almost 100 different books. The room was glowing with books. The books cycled through several different colors each trying to draw your attention.


Once you find a book that interests you, just bring it into the “Reading Room” for an engaging audio and typographic experience.

I guess this particular exhibit struck me because it might be used as inspiration for concepts that help free us from the computer keyboard...I don’t know about you, but I am growing weary of sitting down at my computer...it is uncomfortable and seems archaic. I am basically sitting at a typewriter with a screen...

When was the typewriter invented? Exactly. Its time to innovate the physical portion of computing...exhibits like this can help explore those possibilities which are within our grasp...

The rest of the show
Well, the exhibition is huge. You can spend hours upon hours soaking up all sorts of creativity. I can just give you a peek at two.

Anyway...I have lots more to share...but this is enough for now...I am still missing Emil, but know he would encourage me to keep blogging...