week 2: A refreshing drink
Week 2: "Already after one and half week, blossoms are making place for fresh green leaves. The streets are changing their looks. As I heard it is unusually warm for the time of year. Many knots are bursting and bright pink, red and white flowers are coming up in the parks..."
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Week 3: The correct sounds for the instruction of the people
Week 3:" Yes You can learn Korean language structure in 40 minutes. This is one of the books Ive been studying the last week. The Korean alphabet Hangeul is one of the most efficient and easy languages in the world. Though I seem to have a blind spot for the phonetic order and spelling, so these 40 minutes seem a bit optimistic."
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Week 4-5: The countryside
Week 4: "Last week it was parents day in Korea. All boys and girls pick up the flower baskets in the streets to surprise their parents. A week before that it was 'childrens day', a very important national holiday. Generally people enjoy only around 12 free days a year, so the national holidays are a welcome treat.."
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Week 6-7: Fleeting time
week 6-7:"In the race of becoming a first class economy the different textures of urban development in Seoul are disappearing rapidly. Offices, shopping malls, officetels (office+hotel, implying an apartment with a few more amenities at a bit of a higher cost), rise in hasty optimism. Few places are left that contain a different feel of past time..."
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week 8: Night views
week 8: " I believe the night has something truly special in Seoul. At night the streets look more spacious and the neon lights shine their gloomy colors..."
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SSamzie Space
SSamzie Spaces Studio Program has provided more than 100 Korean and foreign artists working with various media with studio spaces. It is designed to support emerging and talented artists by offering meeting ground among artists, critics, and other ...
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Experiences
Stories and reports from artists about their artist-in-residence experiences are a rich source for anyone who wants to know more about facts, use and value of the AiR-sector.
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Seoul reports
Dutch artist Heidi Vogels stays for a three-month residency at SSamzie Space in Seoul. Read here her weekly updated report on her experiences.
Week 1: Introduction
This is the first week of a three-month residency at
SSamzie Space in Seoul. I arrived the 4th of April, the time of spring and so the time of the blossoms. Ssamzie Space is a non-profit organization set up by a fashion company to provide artists studio spaces in time of the
economical crisis in 1997. Many alternative art spaces in Seoul originated from that time.
There are ten artists studios of which three studios are part of the three-month residency program. These first weeks of April the Korean artists are slowly settling in their studios for the one-year program. Foreign artists are offered the assistance of a volunteer. And so last weeket Cho. Cho obtained her master degree in Art History. Besides her job at a museum in Seoul, she will be helping me to get around the practical matters during my stay. I feel privileged. Ssmazie Space also provides the artists with personal cards, as this is the way to efficiently exchange contact details and meet people. As I noticed they are very useful and my collection of cards is growing fast.
Ssamzie Space is located in the Hongik University Area, just west of down town Seoul. It is a very lively area with streets full of small clothing shops, bars, clubs, restaurants and many artists and students with a strong fashion feel.
Distances are quite far as it seems to me. When Im told a walk of the distance to a next metro stop will take thirty minutes, I end up strolling the streets for at least twice a long. So, yesterday I made my first buy. I got myself a beautiful silver bicycle. It wont bring me to the other end of Seoul, but it will be a pleasure riding it around the block!
