Showcase Sunday - The Korean Collection
In my last showcase I showed the sculptures I made in Russia and talked about how it Was my favourite country to visit, well that was until I went to South Korea. This is now my favourite country , apart for Ireland of course.
I have only been there three times and long to return. I love the culture, the people and the feeling that in some ways it feels as though it is in the past but in others so far in the future.
I remember having dinner with the mayor of Taebaek, a city I went to make ice sculptures twice and we really hit it off. He was also fascinated by Ireland and we talked about how similar our nations were in many ways. We have both gone straight from an agricultural economy to a high tech one without passing through the industrial revolution. Meaning that our environments don't bare the scars of pollution and nature destruction that many other countries have faced. We are much in tune with nature and our place in it.
My conversations with the locals were always like this, Like we are kindred spirits, looking at the world through similar glasses.
I also love their movies and get the subtle emotions that are something that not always translates between nations, especially through subtitles.
I love Seoul in particular and feel when I am there I am just one of the locals. As a big city it still has that small town feel.
Maybe this is just me personally but it nearly wants me to check my birth certificate to confirm that I am indeed Irish and not Korean.
For this weeks showcase I wanted to share again my sculptures from there. As always you can click on the image to be taken to the full post.
Loop De Loop
This first time I traveled with Edith Van Der Wetering and @stijgerart to the mountains surrounding Taebaek city. With crazy warm temperatures for this time of year we had to work by night to get the sculpture done.
It was wonderful first for the three of us and after the project we had a nice little Holiday in Seoul.
AT-AT a good boy
After the first time we were so happy to go back to Taebaek. Weather was again an issue and even with the dreadful snow I really liked how our AT-AT turned out, It was nearly like it was made from marble.
Wormhole
To a different project and a different material, this time it was sand in the city of Donghae. It was great to see Korea in the summer and the charm of the Koreans continued. I really didn't enjoy the sculpture due to conflict with my teammate but other than that I had a great time with some of my favourite sculptors from around the world.
Well that's all for now, Join me next week for some new sculptures and stories.
Happy Sunday
I never thought of two countries so far apart both progressing through times like that, interesting observations.
What's your preference between sand and snow sculpture? I guess ice sculpture is another ball game as I noticed you used snowsculpture tag and not icesculputure?
Language is always a barrier while having these sorts of conversations but we had a great interpreter that made things so easy to talk long into the night. Lots of Soju (drink) also helped.
I really like all of the materials equally because they allow me to do different things and each gives me a different set of challenges to overcome, that said I think I am much more confident with sand.
When it comes to snow and ice, on many project I work with both but with my tags I always try to give credit to the one that is used most in the piece. Of course at the end of the day they are both frozen water.
I love the second one!