18 COMMUNITY
Expat Living is a section dedicated to the daily
living of expatriates.
It is printed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
To share stories about your life abroad, send stories
or story ideas to Matthew Lamers at
mattlamers@heraldm.com
Submissions may be edited for length or clarity.
Deadline nears to
register for next
town hall meeting
By Shannon Heit
The registration deadline for
this year’s Seoul Town Meeting
is approaching. The annual
meeting will be held on Friday,
Dec. 11, but the deadline for
signing up is Nov. 27.
Originally planned for Nov.
11, the meeting was postponed
until December to provide max-
imum opportunity for non-
Koreans and public officials to
participate.
The Seoul Town meetings,
which started in 2000, give ex-
pats living in Seoul an opportu-
nity to voice their opinions and
questions about topics regard-
ing life in Seoul directly to city
officials. The forums began as a
way for government officials to
hear from international resi-
dents about concerns on vari-
ous topics, including education,
healthcare, visa legislation, etc.
and it has been reflected in the
creation of municipal policies
and initiative to support inter-
national residents. This year’s
Seoul Town Meeting topics will
focus on the current housing
situation and leisure facilities.
In the past, Seoul Town meet-
ings have drawn upward of 150
participants. International resi-
dents who have participated in
the past stated that the event
gave them a chance to be “active
and productive members of the
Seoul community.”
The mayor of Seoul, Oh Se-
Hoon, and other senior officials
from the respective government
branches will be in attendance.
Mayor Oh will give the welcom-
ing remarks and and Mr. Alan
Timblick, Director of the Seoul
The Photo Challenge is spon-
sored by Hyosung Camera
(English: 010-7203-9599) and
Babo Shirts (www.baboshirts.
com). Winners of the weekly com-
petition receive a 50,000 won
store credit at Hyosung Camera
and a Babo Shirt. To take part
in the competition, simply up-
load your photo at
www.flickr.com/groups/seoulp
hotoclub — Ed.
By Aaron Raisey
Last week we talked about
photography without the cam-
era — when we are out and
about, camera at home, we can
still keep a practiced eye by
looking for and taking note of
those things that contribute to-
wards a good image such as
shapes, color and light. This
Global Center, will give a Town
Meeting progress report to brief
participants on the current sta-
tus of projects that have
stemmed from past meetings.
Presentations on housing
and leisure will be given by
both a specialist in the field and
a foreign representative. A
Q&A session will follow each
presentation. In addition, an
update on current Seoul poli-
cies and a free discussion for in-
quiries about issues other than
the main topics are included in
the agenda.
The official program will fin-
ish at 12 p.m. but will be fol-
lowed by an optional Seoul
Cultural Experience program,
which is free to all participants.
The Seoul Cultural Experience
program will include Hansik
dining in Insadong, tours of
Gyeongbokgung and the
National Folk Museum, and a
free matinee viewing of
“Jump,” a popular non-verbal
martial arts comedy show.
For those who plan to partic-
ipate in the Seoul Cultural
Experience portion of the pro-
gram, all activities will con-
clude by 5:30 p.m.
Foreign residents who are in-
terested in participating in this
year’s Seoul Town Meeting
should register by filling out an
application form. To receive an
application form, please e-mail
Jang Youhwa at yhjang@sba.
seoul.kr or call (02) 2075-4116.
The program will be held at
Seoul City Hall Seosomun
Annex, which is accessible by
City Hall Station (Line 1, Exit 1
or Line 2, exit 11 or 12).
(shannon.sgc@gmail.com)
In focus: shapes and lines
week we will bring into focus
those shapes and lines we
touched upon last time.
Shapes and lines are every-
where of course, but it is how we
bring them together in an image
that can make the difference.
The triangle is a particularly
strong shape and though I men-
tioned the obvious example last
week of readily available trian-
gles such as those in a construc-
tion crane, probably more pow-
erful visually are triangles that
you construct via composition. A
simple example would be the
triangle that perspective creates
when looking up at a tall build-
Art, life in Wonju
Art community buds for Koreans, expats
Acozza contact info
Website: www.acozza.co.kr
Telephone: (033) 766 8992
E-mail: jsuk918@hotmail.com
By Darren Bean
WONJU, Gangwon Province
— Su Jeoung sits across from
me, arms resting on the table,
beret nicely in place, and
smiles calmly. “My life is with
pizza, coffee, and art,” she says.
An interesting comparison, to
say the least. Su said she has
received a lot of inspiration
from travelling. “I had many
good experiences traveling.
There is one purpose — to see
art, to enjoy art — the United
States, Paris, Norway, Italy,
Germany — those created good
feelings for my future busi-
ness.”
Su lives in Korea’s least pop-
ulated province — Gangwon-
do. Despite, or perhaps because
of that, she’s a member of
FIAC, the Parisian creative
consortium, and regularly at-
tends their events. Art is a cor-
nerstone, but not her entire ex-
istence. To my surprise, it’s the
third thing she mentions.
She was a franchisee for 10
years with a large pizza com-
pany, but she found the terms
unfair. Well-traveled and suc-
cessful, she followed the well-
worn path of creating her own
business, but gave it a twist of
gourmet and fringe.
“My dream was to be a busi-
nesswoman and an artist,” she
says.
Other things can be more
easily numbered: Her gallery-
cafe, Acozza, opened in
January this year. Since then,
eight exhibitions featuring
about 30 artists have passed
through. The artists are mostly
Korean and female, but expats
and men are not excluded.
More than one creator has had
their work grace walls in Paris,
London or Chicago, but others
have only a show or two to
ing, or less obvious, in a portrait
of three people each head will
provide the point on an implied
triangle.
Squares and rectangles tend
to be a little more obvious, espe-
cially in an urban setting, but
perhaps a bit more difficult to
employ effectively. One way
these regular shapes can be
used in a photograph is to divide
the image into parts or to isolate
a subject using framing.
Taking a portrait? Position
the subject front and center of a
rectangle such as a traditional
Korean door or under an arch-
way — put them in a frame
within the picture frame itself.
Something to keep in mind
here is perspective distortion.
Angling the camera up, down or
to either side will distort your
regular shape. Dramatic distor-
their name.
To our left is the work of Kim
Ji-young. From this distance,
15 meters, the cute girly faces
and bright colors belong to car-
toons, and the bandage on the
eye makes one think, “poor
thing.” It’s only after a few
steps back that one notices the
earring is a chain tethered to
another character and the title
reads “Domestic Violence.”
Other pieces, in similar style,
draw inspiration from Na-
young and the many similar
stories that aren’t quite as
gruesome or public.
Acozza’s M.O., however, isn’t
gloom-and-doom, it’s balance;
turning back to the wall behind
Su, there are colorful and gen-
tle pastels into which it would
be difficult for even the most
macabre mind to inject sublim-
inal sorrow.
A month prior, computer
monitors or screens were
placed where paper sits now.
“Mix and Media,” the first ex-
hibition of its kind in Wonju,
featured audio, visual, and still
art side-by-side. One false doc-
tion could be intentional, but
slight distortion often looks like
careless photography and might
need straightening in post-pro-
cessing.
Shapes are of course con-
structed of lines, and the line by
itself — be it horizontal, verti-
cal, diagonal or a curve — can
be effectively used to create in-
terest in a photograph. Lines
parallel to the edge of the frame
are strong and help stabilize or
reinforce an image. The horizon
in a landscape, or palace
columns in a vertically oriented
photograph, for example.
Diagonals add a more dynam-
ic feel. An impression of traffic
flow will be enhanced in a shot
of a busy street if it cuts diago-
nally across the frame. Curves
are harder to find and use effec-
tively, but like the diagonal can
Su Jeoung, owner of Acozza
Suq H. Won’s “Salome,” (2005)
Interior of Acozza with art from
Kim Ji-young in the background
Photo by Caroline Barsellotti
umentary detailed the interna-
tional clashes that occurred af-
ter a bridge was built connect-
ing Europe and Africa, a
MacBook contained electronic
symphonies, and the heavily
saturated, subtly sardonic,
work of art coordinator and
barista Hanna draped the op-
posite wall.
My clearest memory of that
exhibit, however, was sitting at
another table with two friends,
enjoying the balsamic reduc-
tion sauce on the Pizza alla
Ortolana with a Chilean red,
and watching Barbie get a feel
on the back wall. Another doll
carried her up a volcanic hill-
side and their plastic lips
touched. A molded hand slowly
slid downward. I tried to make
the craning of my neck less
than overt but failed; I’d cho-
sen the wrong side of the table
at which to sit.
“It’s my take on the little
mermaid,” explained Suq H.
Won, “A girl gives up some-
thing of herself and discovers
sexual pleasure. But it’s not so
much about the story as the
impart dynamism to your pic-
ture. Classic curves in Korea are
the rooflines in traditional ar-
chitecture, or the country roads
you can see from the bus as you
travel along highways between
major cities.
As with shapes, lines can be
implied by judicious arrange-
ment of elements within the
frame and help draw attention
by leading the eye to your sub-
ject. However, don’t just shoot
lines and shapes for their own
sake — try to employ these
things in ways that will add in-
terest or enhance the vision you
have for a scene or subject.
Head over to the Seoul Photo
Club on Flickr, post a few pics,
ask a few questions and get
some useful feedback on the im-
ages you are putting together.
(raisey@hanmail.net)
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 24, 2009
framing and editing.” In a way,
it’s hardly about anything but
coincidence; consider how wel-
come comments on female sex-
uality are in Confucian soci-
eties. Had the artist scheduled
to fill that space come through,
this piece wouldn’t have been
shown.
The work that was sched-
uled to (and did) feature in-
cluded a brief video in which
she both lovingly and savagely
mined fruit from a fresh
pineapple. The exhibition
brochure made references to
John the Baptist, but she was
willing to further explain in a
more universal language:
She had found a small
pineapple on the edge of a
farm while staying in Hawaii.
It was too small to eat —
“probably leftover from some-
one stealing something” — but
she took it home and hydro-
ponically “planted” it in a jar of
water. A month later, she
couldn’t take it back to Korea,
but she couldn’t leave it either.
Consumption was her conclu-
sion. Maternal and murderous
PHOTO CHALLENGE — weekly winner — Last weekend a cos-
player dresses as Ulquiorra Cifer from the Bleach anime series.
Works from three artists
on display at Acozza, a
gallery-cafe in Wonju.
Photo by Caroline Barsellotti
instinct conflicted, and one,
the tastier, if less nurturing,
won out. Or it’s “cannibalism
as an act of loving,” as her
brochure explains.
She harbors as much affec-
tion for her hometown as she
did about the fruit. “Wonju is 10
or 20 years behind. If it be-
comes a media art center, it’ll
be after I die. I’m only hoping to
lay the base, the background.”
Her attitude is pragmatic.
However, there is a second
column of thought to consider
when accounting for the growth
of an art industry: The busi-
ness-creative model has been
proven successful by others. T.S.
Eliot was a banker and publish-
er in his later years, and
Charles Ives sold insurance
when he wasn’t composing or ly-
ing naked on his piano.
Of their ilk, but not lying
naked on a pizza, Su sits wait-
ing to trade several pieces of
real property to fund a further
vision, instead of a golden
parachute. By summer 2010,
Acozza Gallery, a second space,
will have opened. Su’s excite-
ment is clear; artists have al-
ready agreed to exhibit, and
the contemporary metal shell
of the building-to-be has al-
ready been erected.
There’s a new 10-page exhi-
bition program under my arm,
as there usually is when I
leave. The question of how
many sisters it first meets in
my desk drawer, as well as the
question of whether this seed
will germinate in our lifetimes,
has yet to be answered.
“Changing thought, chang-
ing future,” reads Acozza’s slo-
gan. Thought clearly has al-
ready changed; the issue that
remains is how soon the future
will follow suit.
(myzomaniacal@gmail.com)
Neil Alexander