Upon our return from Busan, we dealt with the administrative procedures necessary when moving to South Korea for a period exceeding 4 months. It is mandatory to apply for registration with the government to obtain an ARC (Alien Registration Card). This document is a key to life in this country, as once obtained, it greatly simplifies your life. Indeed, with it, you can finally open a bank account, shop online on numerous websites (even book a taxi), and sign up for a mobile phone plan – not to mention that a Korean bank account is also required for most of these operations.
Our procedures led us to the west of Gangnam and through several neighborhoods on foot to reach Yeouido Park, passing by the National Assembly. We made a stop at Nakasan Cake shop, specialized in cake decoration, and understood the importance of image and detail here.
Temples, historical buildings, graffiti, and sculptures are scattered along our route. We offer you a selection of them via this gallery.
In Seoul, you will find numerous parks scattered throughout the city, particularly along the Han River. These parks also abound with artistic representations, in the form of abstract sculptures, which also mingle with more popular representations. We had already noticed this in Busan; the character of the Little Prince is an emblematic figure in this country.
We found it at Yeouido Park precisely, where several sculptures are to be discovered in the landscape, amidst the trees. This park is truly interesting for its richness and cultural diversity, where modern history meets fictional history, where traditional art encounters contemporary art. Yeouido Park is a haven of peace amidst immense buildings, symbolizing the duality of this country. When you decide to embark on a project abroad, or at least consider this venture, to succeed in this mission, it seemed essential to us to understand the way of life, to fully immerse ourselves, to study, to observe social behaviors. Very quickly, we knew that we had made the right decision. South Korea is a country that changes and evolves at an excessive speed, while remaining faithful to its traditions and not hesitating to immediately embrace all the novelties that arrive. We often had the impression in France of a certain resistance to change, of a certain fear, mistrust, towards innovations. And above all, we had the strange sensation that what is popular should not mix with what is elitist. However, here, everything seems to be on the same level – beware, we were well aware of the perverse effect of this phrase and we are not seeking to lower standards; on the contrary, we are simply highlighting that there are no distinctions made by the Koreans (at least not initially) between the different arts, but rather an absence of judgment, they celebrate above all any artistic vision, regardless of its origin.
Conversely, while we were amazed by the abundance of artistic presence in our daily surroundings, the population seems to be immune to this and only sees the structures around them for purely decorative and “Instagrammable” purposes (if you allow us the neologism), without perceiving their significance.
However, this urban sprawl is a beautiful opportunity (despite the indifference) to confront art for the first time. We allow ourselves to write this, because of the way Koreans live (at least in Seoul); they wake up very early but go to bed very late and spend a lot of time outside, both adults and children. We observe that children are numerous in parks, showing interest in sculptures just to play around, we hear them questioning their parents, and we definitely think that we want to design our project for them, so that as adults they continue to be engaged with their surroundings.
We talked earlier about how the population ultimately celebrates any form of art or success. We returned that evening to our accommodation by walking along the Han River and crossing various parks along the way. People are outside, it’s warm, the banks are lively, and in the distance, we see a more animated, noisy, and bright area than the others. We approach and see an installation composed notably of a giant pop-up and a luminous tree to celebrate the release and worldwide success of a single by a Korean artist, JungKook from BTS. Children, teens, adults, girls, boys, take photos, selfies in front of it to commemorate this moment. Let’s forget the “K-Pop star” aspect and the already popular artist; Korea celebrates above all the success of one of its artists. We discover here that fans of an artist (whatever they may be – singer, actor, established, beginner, etc.) organize multiple events for multiple occasions (birthdays, debuts, album releases, etc.). This is a beautiful example for us of Korean fervor. It is not uncommon to see fans rent billboards in the subway, buses, cafes to celebrate their artists. It fascinates us to see such devotion.
This was a first “slice of life” article; we will be back very soon with our feedback from the DDP Light Festival.
