2025.6
Residency at Horanggasy Creative Studio, Gwangju, South Korea
I had too much fun at the residency, so there are too many projects here, just scroll down:
I. Light of Gwangju
II. Tape series
III. Why is there a mirror here?
IV. Guided tour in Yangnim-dong neighborhood
V. Wendy fan club
VI. Balloon league
VII. Guardians of the residency
VIII. Conversations with residency friends
IX. Shady videos behind the door
I. Light of Gwangju
II. Tape series
III. Why is there a mirror here?
IV. Guided tour in Yangnim-dong neighborhood
V. Wendy fan club
VI. Balloon league
VII. Guardians of the residency
VIII. Conversations with residency friends
IX. Shady videos behind the door
I. Light of Gwangju
I took a lot of photos of objects I saw in Gwangju and cut them out, the result of which seems only to have made them look even weirder.
Gwangju’s “gwang” 光 literally means light. I am a very literal person and take everything literally; therefore, I made a lantern.
II. Tape series
It started on the first day I came to the residency. One fellow artist chewed the candy that I brought from China and asked me, do you people have harder teeth or what. So I left instructions on how to consume the candy on the table. Later, I started taping and writing down words inspired by conversations with residency folks.
III. Why is there a mirror here?
This piece is called "Why is there a mirror here?", responding to the many, many mirrors I saw on the streets of Gwangju.
During the opening, we gathered around the mirror and made our wishes.
During the opening, we gathered around the mirror and made our wishes.
IV. Guided tour in Yangnim-dong neighborhood
I gave a guided tour near the residency in Yangnim-dong neighborhood.
On the fan I was holding, I wrote the two Korean words that I used most often with my Korean friends (who taught me these words):
대박 Daebak, which means amazing, big hit, and 오매 Omae, from Gwangju dialect, which means wow.
On the fan I was holding, I wrote the two Korean words that I used most often with my Korean friends (who taught me these words):
대박 Daebak, which means amazing, big hit, and 오매 Omae, from Gwangju dialect, which means wow.
Pictures are not enough. You need to hear the videos:
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What's that house on top of the hill?
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What's this monument for?
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What look is that face?
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Amazing things will happen.
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What's this place?
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Your future apartment.
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Feeding cat.
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Directions from cyber fish.
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V. Wendy fan club
I printed my photo and put it at the entrance of the residency house. For the exhibition, we moved the portrait to the toilet in front of the exhibition space.
The word that I'm holding in the picture is the Korean word 대박 (Daebak). It means amazing, or big hit, which I say every day to the Korean residents. I was inspired by the advertisements on the streets.
The word that I'm holding in the picture is the Korean word 대박 (Daebak). It means amazing, or big hit, which I say every day to the Korean residents. I was inspired by the advertisements on the streets.
Horanggasy toilet
I also made an advertisement for the residency slippers:
VI. Balloon league
The balloons on the street is another thing that I find very Korean.
So I cut them out and had them go hand in hand.
VII. Guardians of the residency
I saw pairs of statues in museums and on the streets multiple times in Korea. These are village guardians, or Jangseungs. According to Wikipedia, Jangseungs were traditionally placed at the edges of villages to mark village boundaries and frighten away demons.
I found some boxes for the paper rolls for the plotter in the residency office and put them in my room. One night (or morning) I saw the shadows of these poles in front of my eyes, and it dawned on me that they are the guardians of the residency.
I wrote the text 20 minutes before the opening and put them in the exhibition space, between the staircase and the basement. According to a fellow artist, they look more like Moomins.
As for the text on the poles (in Chinese characters), 天下大將軍 means Great General of All Under Heaven; 地下女將軍 means Female General of the Underworld.
I wrote the text 20 minutes before the opening and put them in the exhibition space, between the staircase and the basement. According to a fellow artist, they look more like Moomins.
As for the text on the poles (in Chinese characters), 天下大將軍 means Great General of All Under Heaven; 地下女將軍 means Female General of the Underworld.
VIII. Conversations with residency friends
I realized that I wanted to write down conversations with residents at Horanggasy. They are full of important life questions.
On the last night of my scheduled residency period, I was still having a hard time deciding whether I should extend my stay in Gwangju.
Residency friends made this chart for me, showing the most important questions about what I want in my life.
Residency friends made this chart for me, showing the most important questions about what I want in my life.
After debating with myself till the morning of my original flight, I decided to not extend my stay, aka cut my happy time with my own hands and regret forever.
IX. Shady videos behind the door
During the residency, the residency staff JK took a lot of videos of me talking bullshit. For the exhibition, we put the videos in the most shady spot in the space because I am shady. Here are some of the videos:
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Learning to make Korean mask
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Twins with scars
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The guy who leaves shoes here
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Innovative way to dry clothes
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How to open Coca Cola bottle
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Me explaining during the opening
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What's more? To my surprise, there are a lot of promotional materials provided by the residency:
During the "Talking Exhibition" (a tradition at Horanggasy), we introduced our past work. A fellow artist said that when she moved to NYC she started doing acrylic, gouache paintings and less oil paintings. I said, similarly, since my home is small and dirty and there is no such thing as studio, I like hopping around residencies.
Anything else?
One day after dinner with P, we passed by a place selling souvenirs. We spent a lot of time thinking about what makes a meaningful souvenir. I was debating whether I should buy this planner. I said to P, it's really cute, but I don't plan. In the end I bought it, but used it not as a planner but as a place to write down what I did every day.
One day after dinner with P, we passed by a place selling souvenirs. We spent a lot of time thinking about what makes a meaningful souvenir. I was debating whether I should buy this planner. I said to P, it's really cute, but I don't plan. In the end I bought it, but used it not as a planner but as a place to write down what I did every day.
Any other thoughts?
Through this residency I realized that having fun and having friends who understand and laugh at my jokes is essential to my well-being. In the places where I feel sad, it's because there are no such people (actually nobody to talk to to begin with, let alone those who will respond to my jokes). Now that I know this very simple fact, should I still choose to stay in such places without friends in pursuit of knowledge and solitude, or should I go for literal happiness, for laughs, wrinkles, and tears on my face?
I also realized that residencies are places for intense questioning of what I need and want in my life. Every day I woke up and it was hard to think about what I wanted to do for the day. The meaning of living is to extend the act of living.
Through this residency I realized that having fun and having friends who understand and laugh at my jokes is essential to my well-being. In the places where I feel sad, it's because there are no such people (actually nobody to talk to to begin with, let alone those who will respond to my jokes). Now that I know this very simple fact, should I still choose to stay in such places without friends in pursuit of knowledge and solitude, or should I go for literal happiness, for laughs, wrinkles, and tears on my face?
I also realized that residencies are places for intense questioning of what I need and want in my life. Every day I woke up and it was hard to think about what I wanted to do for the day. The meaning of living is to extend the act of living.