These are two of my favourite people of all time. Kim Minjeong and Abe Mitchell.
I seriously miss them.
I want to go back to Korea so bad.
Archives for posts with tag: korea
At the end of June I will be performing in Brisbane with Mokhwa, one of Korea’s premier physical theatre companies.
The show is 내 사랑 DMZ – [Ne Sarang DMZ], which translates as “My Love, DMZ”. The performance is being sponsored by the Korean government as part of the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean war and is being taken round the world in 2010 (Australia, United Kingdom, USA and Turkey). Their concept is to have an actor from each of the host countries take on a small role in the work.
This morning I woke to the wet sound of snow as it gently slid out of the grey sky and met the edge of my window before trickling down the gutter and onto the street. It is the first real day of Spring, and the preceding week of thaw found itself rudely interrupted by the jealousy of Winter.
I have a friend, his name is John. Well, his English name is John, in Korean he is Jung Jong Bin. He is a lovely boy, only slightly younger than myself who has just completed his military service (compulsory for every Korean male).
He plays the guitar, and, as a Winter Project he decided to form a band.
And by band, I really mean Super Band. ‘This Week Band’ to be even more precise. Read the rest of this entry »
No reason except that Regina Spektor is amazing.
My To Do List is shortening by the minute. I just have to do some last-minute shopping tomorrow, see Mel, go see John’s Band.
Oh, and and finish my application for JUMP. I think my proposal is pretty solid. It’s just that I have left it all a bit late, and am waiting on some final supporting documents. Then I am going to post it at the LAST MINUTE from Daejeon. Look, the application says postmarked by the 26th February. They don’t know yet that I am in Korea. I get to email in the body of the application, so at least they will be expecting the hard stuff.
Ahigo…
Rehearsed Sketches today. I suffer slightly from motivational issues when I am left to my own devices in a room with a working computer (especially when it is my own). I put in a good 2 and a half hours. Pretty sure I could do the show in my sleep (lucky it’s Butoh). At least now, after a couple of weeks of revision I am no longer relying on my Body Memory (which gets a bit fuzzy, let’s be honest). And 6 months of performing as a singing, dancing, cybernetic robot has left its toll on my Body Material Of Wave.
And I will soon once again be on the Roman Road.
Clothes: 20.2kg
Butoh Paint: 1.2kg
Sewing Machine: 9.0kg
Books: 7.5kg
Electronics: 10kg
Keytar: 6.4kg
Sound Gear: 14kg
Flutes: 1.2kg
TOTAL: 69.5kg
Ok, so this is unacceptable, as my ticket gives me only a 20kg allowance and excess baggage is charged at USD30 a kilo.
TOTAL: 49.5kg
My contract gives me an additional 20kg.
TOTAL: 29.5kg
They will also pay for what I needed for the show.
TOTAL: 7.9kg
Which I will probably stuff into my briefcase as additional hand luggage.
(But it is so heavy and you have too many bags. Oh no, look at my big headphones – I’m a DJ, I couldn’t possibly part with my expensive equipment. Are you famous? Not yet. Ok).
The only problem is, I have completely packed, and I don’t leave for another week.
Don’t Gypsies usually travel light?
Which equals one more week, 4 days of which I have to work.
3 days to conclude this chapter.
I really hope I get to dance in a new one before I go.
I have discovered ASIANPUNKBOY other wise known as Terence Koh.
I think it was because of a video of him and Lady Gaga?
He suits me.
The cards told me to stop and celebrate what I have before moving on. I thought that meant that I had to go out. But it seems, all I needed to do was sit around with Abe and eat junk and watch TV. Which is fine. Except now I have (another) bellyache.
Now I am ready for bed.
… exactly when I became so absolutely at peace and fine with everything.
A slow process, but these last few months have really been interesting.
And I come home (well, to the people I love) in under three weeks.
This last week, my work has been subjected to the delighted musings, scowling glares and vacant expressions that commonly accompany the art that I produce.
And so, for anyone who is interested in my responses to the common questions I have been asked, I have written down the answers. Not in order to inform or educate, but in order that in future I may be more articulate about the things that I do.
This is the first in a series of posts ‘answering’ those questions. They appear in the order that they are usually asked, as I stand outside my studio, in my overalls, dripping with a delightful mixture of white paint, sweat, glucose and water, or later in the Korean restaurant that I frequent far too often, or as I am put on the spot in a lecture room full of young, aspiring artists (not THAT much younger than I):
This artist is amazing, and was also a resident at Changdong. I really want to meet him, but missed his exhibition… I guess I have to kick in those networlding skills.
I have found myself staring at this picture for most of this evening. This, and the others like it.
I went to an exhibition on the weekend that had the work of a Korean artist (I cannot remember the name) who makes lifelike sculptures with a similar physiology to this. It was heartbreaking. Only the real thing can express it… I’ll try to find a picture.
