Art dinner

A view from the rooftop of the Gana Art Gallery, in the mountains of northern Seoul. There was a huge ridiculous buffet w/lobster and carved pork and grilled sweet potatoes and lychees still in their shells. The exhibit here, "the bridge," was quite good and sometimes very good. They paired artists - established with emerging - and they made work that dialogued with each other. Some pairs worked remarkably well together. I went with Hyejin, who was a classmate from grad school who is now back in Seoul after graduating this past spring. She thought it was funny to talk to me in Korean since we've only ever spoken in English. The dress code was to wear something red and I lucked out b/c of the red in my dress and shoes. There was a red carpet and all and they made me get my photo taken w/some big artist who is a friend of Hyejin's uncle. Total randomness.

Part of a huge exhibit up for a week showing the work of SUJAK, a book arts collective. NaRae took me there, and we stopped at an art supply store (all in Insadong), where we then met Hyejin.

Before we drove to the big show, we stopped by a printmaker's studio/gallery, which was also nice to see. He carves stone. Hardcore!

Today was our final class get together even though we have one class left. Audrey leaves Saturday morning to get back to her last year at Harvard, so she won't come to school tomorrow. I'm sad to see her go! It marks the end of summer and of summer school, but also of a more predictable, structured life. I had a big idea for an installation piece this a.m. while dozing on the bus but then forgot half of it once I got near pencil and paper.

I got an email today from Shawn, and it made me homesick. We've never gone for more than a few months w/o seeing each other, so it will be sad to be away for this long. I should revise my first statement: hearing from him made me homesick for a past that is long gone. When I lived by myself, loved my job, and was in a position of power in a really big arts community. Funny that I should be homesick for the days in an OFFICE. But Shawn was the best co-worker ever, so mostly I miss his head popping up from across our cubes, watching the river from our windows, complaining about crazy artists, and bickering like long-married spouses. Those will always be my "good old days."