The Korean Friday Late at the V&A promises to be both lively and interesting. Details have been emerging over the last couple of weeks, and their press release at www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/f/friday-late/ is now final. Below is the text, expanded in places with LKL’s commentary in italics and images from our archives.
Friday Late: Korea
30 May 2014; 18.30 – 22.00
Admission Free; some events may be ticketed
This Friday Late brings Korea to South Kensington. Join us as Korean culture and technological innovation collide and cross-pollinate the galleries. From soap pottery to bojagi sewing, poetry to straw chairs, and K-pop to experimental gastronomy, this event explores the vibrant landscape of Korean contemporary art and design.
With special thanks to Samsung
All events are free and places are designated on a first come, first served basis, unless stated otherwise. Filming and photography will be taking place at this event.
KpopTeam Ltd presents DJ Phat
18.30 – 21.30
The ever growing wave of Korean pop music crosses all cultural domains, from viral Gangnam Style videos on youtube, to collaborations with Will.i.am, K-Pop has become a globalised music sensation. Bring your supercute dance routines as DJ Phat floods the Museum with K-Pop’s sugary tones and undeniable electronic beats. www.kpopteam.com
Complex, Red
18.30 – 21.30
Red, represents loyalty, good fortune and wealth in Korea. Borim Jun and Seung Hwan Lee’s red beacon will mark the start of your journey through this Friday Late, symbolising the role of red in the broader sweep of Korean culture. www.idrarchitects.com
Sung Jang Laboratory
18.30 – 21.30
With the head of a bear and the body of a dinosaur, build your own creature using EQB (Emotion Quotient Blocks). Each EQB unit connects to another with Sung Jang’s unique ‘genderless’ snap joints. www.sungjanglaboratory.com
Surface Matters
18.30 – 21.30
In a world of touchscreen tablets and toasters that send emails, the role of the surface is changing radically. Audio 01 designed by Eunhee Jo is a tangible textural interface. You can control its sound using a fabric interface and feel the surface respond beneath your fingers. www.eunheejo.com
Made Of Chair
18.30 – 21.30
Robe yourself in a Hanbok and a pair of Gomusins (both provided!) and take a pew on Made Of Chair. Designer Kim Been’s armchair evokes the sensual pleasures of sitting in straw, born out of a romantic sensibility and a realisation of the potential of rice straw, a material otherwise destined for fodder. www.beeeen.com
Kim Been’s chair was on show at Tent London 2012, where they wouldn’t let you near it – which was not what she had intended. So this is your chance to see how comfortable it is:
TableStitch
18.30 – 21.30
Textile Futures graduate Soojin Kang invites you to master the art of traditional jogakbo sewing. Pull up a chair, sit and stitch the communal cloth to fuse East and West across the dining table. www.soojinkang.net
Soojin Kang is a graduate of Central St Martins. On her website she describes her work thus:
Her work is a balance between aesthetic research and artistic expression, and produces pieces of furniture where the textiles graft has a significant importance and it is often decisive in the configuration of “hybrid” products to those assign changing identities.
Meekyoung Shin
18.30 – 21.30
Situated within the Korean Gallery, Meekyoung Shin displays her ornate vases carved from soap. Take inspiration from Shin’s work and join her in the Learning Studio to engrave your own moon jar cast in soap. www.meekyoungshin.com
Shin Meekyoung had a huge year last year, with two retrospectives (one at the KCCUK and the other a prestigious participation in the Artist of the Year prize at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art) a solo show at Sumarria Lunn, work on show at Glasstress at the Venice Biennale and at the Wallace Collection, and at least one other London group show. You can still find her equestrian statue in Cavendish Square – and her soap Buddhas in BAFTA and elsewhere.
Junebum Park
18.30 – 21.30
Watch filmmaker and video artist Junebum Park take the role of puppeteer as he manipulates the everyday scenes of Korean life. A comical distortion of the urban environment and an exploration of contemporary ideas of space, illusion and control. www.junebumpark.com
Junebum Park is represented by Hanmi Gallery – and was a big hit at their stall in Art14 London earlier this year. More details of Hanmi Gallery’s pop-up for the evening can be found here.
Junebum Park, 3 Crossing, 2002, Single-channel, DV, 01’43 min. NTSC, silent, colour. Edition of 20. Image Courtesy of Hanmi Gallery
The Bridge Korean Drummers
18.45, 19.45, 20.45
Samulnori, a form of contemporary Korean percussion, fills the John Madejski garden. Immerse yourself in rhythms from rural folk music (known as P’ungmu), which calls for harmony between heaven and earth!
Visualisation of Taste
19.00, 19.30, 20.00, 20.30, 21.00 & 21.30
Using synaesthesia as a source of inspiration, designer Jinhyun Jeon takes experimental gastronomy to another level. Her creation of Sensory Stimuli cutlery enriches the eating experience, teasing your senses through texture, colour and sound. This workshop will literally tickle your taste buds. www.jjhyun.com
19.30 & 20.30 (30 minutes)
Korea’s foremost poet and national treasure, Ko Un, will be reading Poems I Left Behind from his collection of Seon poems (a form of Korean Buddhist writing). At the age of eighty-one Ko Un continues to captivate audiences worldwide. His lyrical poems exquisitely portray the powerful language and philosophically rich culture of Korea. Sir Andrew Motion will read the poems in English.
Curated by Jiyoon Lee
An intriguing poetry performance in the Raphael Gallery
Director’s Talk: Yun Seok-Ho
20.00 – 21.00
Seok-Ho Yun the director of TV series ‘Autumn in my heart’, ‘Winter Sonata’, ‘Spring Waltz’ and ‘Summer Scent’ has contributed to the explosion of Korean pop culture. Yun divulges the secrets behind the popularisation of Korean love stories, his ideas on ‘skinship’ and why YSL’s Rouge Pur Couture No. 52 lipstick sold out in department stores world wide.
Director Yun recently gave a version of this talk at SOAS. You a strongly encouraged to attend this talk – it is accessible and informative even to those who have not had time to sit down in front of a DVD box set of a Korean TV drama before.
Food & Drink
Drinks are available in the Grand Entrance throughout the evening, and in the John Madejski Garden (weather permitting). Food and drinks will be served in the Cafe until 21.00.
