Art and Culture

It's finally Friday and our Michelle Kim is here with us for our daily arts and culture segment. Today, she'll preview two exhibitions and a musical that are going on this weekend.

Hello Michelle

[Reporter : ] Hello Conn-young

So what do you have for us today[Reporter : ] I have two fun events that could make for a great weekend with friends and family. Anish Kapoor, is showing work in central Seoul and the musical "Golden Days" explores the delicate relationship between people and the environment they inhabit.

Anish Kapoor, an Indian-born British sculptor who's famous for creating the bean-shaped "Cloud Gate" sculpture in Chicago, is presenting his first solo exhibition in Asia at the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, in central Seoul.
Kapoor's works walk a fine line between sculpture and architecture and often play with the dualities of positive and negative space, earth and sky, darkness and light.
Through his works -- created with a combination of stainless steel, glass, wax -- he invites viewers into a world of his own making by altering the space around them or distorting their perspective.
His work "Tall Tree and The Eye" is made of 76 shiny steel spheres stacked up to a height of nearly 15 meters.
The way the spheres are stacked allow the sculpture to reflect itself in each succeeding level, generating a feeling of ascension.
The exhibition continues at the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, until January 27th.

Korean entomologist Seok Joo-myung's life is the basis for the musical "Golden Days", which is now playing through the 11th of the month at the Kepco Art Center.
The musical follows the main character, modeled after Seok, as he travels across time from the1930s to the 2060s, where it is struck by an environmental apocalypse.
In the process, the musical attempts to portray the harmony and balance between humans and nature.


[Interview : Kim Jin-young, Producer] "I believe that entomologist Seok Joo-myung's ideals and virtues should be noted again in this generation, because he devoted his life to improving this country".

The musical "Golden Days continues at Kepco Art Center until November 11th.
Those sculptures are quite compelling and they really do force you to look at things differently. Could you tell us a bit more about the artist[Reporter : ] Of course. Anish Kapoor also created a lot of other artworks like this that use reflective surfaces, which distort the surrounding environment. His artworks can be seen in places all around the world from Japan, Chicago, New York, Italy and more.

Sounds like an exhibition I'll have to see. And now moving on, what else do you have for us[Reporter : ] Well, this year marks the 10th anniversary of Korea's Templestay program, and to mark the occasion, a museum in Seoul is showing works inspired by the experience. Here's a preview of the exhibition and a short introduction to the program.

Eight artists gathered at a temple in the Korean countryside. for a weekend of rest, relaxation and quiet reflection.
The artists were invited to the temple as part of the Templestay program, created 10 years ago as a way to share Buddhist culture and historic landmarks with visitors.
When the artists returned home, they used the inspiration they had gained through their experience to create a series of videos, sculptures, drawings and other mixed media artworks.
Those works are currently on display at the Sejong Museum of Art in central Seoul as part of the "Self-Made Inspiration and Laughter Exhibition", or "Smile".
The exhibition was organized by the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism.

[Interview : Kim Dan-in, Assistant Manager
Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism] "We wanted the eight artists to create artworks that show that Buddhism isn't foreign or difficult to understand".

The two- to three-day Templestay program has become increasingly popular among visitors young and old, from both Korea and abroad and is as much a cultural experience as a spiritual one.

[Interview : Kim Dan-in, Assistant Manager
Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism] "Templestay is a program organized for people to visit Buddhist temples and experience Korean Buddhist culture. But the experience is not designed to convert people to Buddhism but is a way to let people experience the 1,700 years of Korean history".

A video installation in the gallery shows moments highlighting the artists' month-long Templestay experience, including rooms for meditation and a library and gift shop filled with Buddhist books and music.

The SMILE exhibition will be held at the Sejong Museum of Art until November 12th.
Wow..I feel like I'm more at peace just by looking at the clip. It looks like it was an inspiring exhibit.

[Reporter : ] It was definitely was. I just want to mention that visitors can receive a guided tour in English, Italian, and Russian as well.
And as for the Templestay program, I hear that a lot of people participate in the program and that they do so for many different reasons. But whatever the purpose, I think that in the end, people leave feeling more satisfied and happy with life.

That sounds like an amazing experience and you've inspired me to think about participating in it some day. And now, you have the events bulletin for us, right[Reporter : ] That's right. I have three concerts for you that are all being held in the same venue but on different dates. Here are the details on this set of concerts.

[Reporter : ed: jenny] This bulletin features 3 events.

The multi-talented Lee Seung-gi will return to his roots as a singer when he performs at Olympic Park's Gymnastic Stadium on December 1st and 2nd. Lee first rose to fame as a singer and later gained recognition for his acting. He has also served as the host of several TV shows, the most recent of which was "Strong Heart", which ended in March.

The soulful singer Maxwell will be in Korea on December 8th at the Olympic Park Gymnastics Stadium. The singer's style is often described as "neo soul", which emerged from soul and contemporary R&B music in the late 1990s. This is his first visit to Korea.

Indie duo 10cm will perform on February 23rd at Olympic Park's Gymnastics Stadium to celebrate the release of their second album. Since their debut in 2009, the duo has garnered a large fan base with their lovely, acoustic melodies.

Thank you for the update

[Reporter : ] My pleasure

NOV 02, 2012

Advertisement

Reporter : dainee@arirang.co.kr