Thursday, March 19, 2009

You and Me

I got up early after terrible dreams about being trapped in a land where some people had super powers and some didn't (that would be me). I was being terrorized by one and had to wake up to escape. Then I proceeded to Skype my entire morning away. But I did manage a whole section on my practice test for Korean, shower, make lunch, and make a museum date with Michael. We went to the Samsung collection, the Leeum. They have mad money = it's a gorgeous collection. It's separated into Museum 1 and 2, one for contemporary art and one for traditional Korean relics, complete with appropriate architecture. The celadon floor was particularly stunning. Michael and I were drooling all over a water dropper in the shape of a peach.

It was so weird to see that not everyone can immediately identify a Rothko, or Judd, or Kiefer. And that's when I realized that I have a very specialized education, an eye trained to see certain things, and a mind honed to understand BS. Yesterday, I had my sister proof my bio and presentation summary for a lecture I will give next month. Tonight, I read an article on art, anthropology, and museums. They were both written in obscure, boring, purposely convoluted languages and wrapped up in laughable vocabulary. I was reading about bags of shit, after a conversation about an expensive container of shit, and another one about a mason jar full of shit that exploded when my co-exhibitor in college was trying to seal it in boiling water. But the language packages it so differently!

This is me outside near the Louise Bourgeois outdoor sculptures. The Kiefer inside was incredible - lead dresses, the unborn. I love seeing art with people who know what they like and don't like and understand and don't. It was nourishing to see amazing work in a beautiful building. We were particularly excited b/c Michael just found out that he got his master's degree back in the UK! Hooray!!

After dinner, he showed me a lovely cafe that apparently has the best cakes in Seoul. Bad timing, since just yesterday I told myself that I needed to watch my sugar intake. But this crepe cake was too lovely. He worked on the computer and I spun and wrote until it closing. I walked to the bus, seeing wives pulling their staggering, drunk husbands down the street, thinking about how much I love my freedom and if I would ever be willing to give it up to be in a relationship with someone else. Then I started laundry after midnight. Not a great call, since I have to get up in about 5 hours to go to the papermill and visit my teacher to shoot some video. But clean clothes and prepping to put away my winter things...sometimes I am impatient, even if it costs me sleep.

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