Blowing up.

So today Danielle and I had a lovely day of exploring. We spent the morning at the Busan Museum of Modern Art and then the afternoon eating and shopping around where we live. Unfortunately the museum was a bit of a disappointment. It was quite a large space that was not fully taken advantage of and the lighting was very poor. We saw one exhibit of Japanese art (somewhat surprising as I thought they hated each other). Unfortunately all we could figure out was that it was Japanese art because everything was in Korean. The exhibit spanned a huge amount of time from what I could tell- about 1700s to current. Some of the pieces where quite beautiful, particularly the older ones. What really frustrated me about this specific exhibit was the framing. For some of the more modern pieces some genius had framed them in giant, carved, gilt frames that were doing nothing for the work. It was as though they were hoping that giving such grand frames would elevate the art. Definitely did not work and definitely hurt some interesting pieces. The other exhibit that we saw was of the work of Oh Seung-woo, a Korean who had quite a wide range. We actually only had the patience for one of the rooms and I think we chose the wrong one. We saw his series on the Ten Longevity Symbols and I just cold not get over his color choices. It was all neon pinks and oranges and each picture had little deer (that looked like Bambi), turtles and cranes. The colors plus the deer just came across as kitshy. At the back of the room though were a few pieces that he had done 10-15 years previously and those I liked much more. A more normal color palette and the subject matter was more more interesting- mostly of his travels but done in what I guessed was a fairly traditional watercolor fashion.
Definitely glad that we went (and that it was free) and I will be interested to see what other exhibits they get throughout the year but sadly was not blown away. I guess after the one and only MoMA I might be a bit spoiled.
We then took the train back to PNU (Pusan National University) which is one stop past where we live and in the direction of work. Lots of activity in the area- food shopping and going out, the typical college area (minus the wasteland of Morningside Heights and Columbia). Anyway on our way to lunch we stopped in some sort of arcade on steroids. It was this huge poorly lit room that was filled with the most deafening sounds of guns and cars the chatter of tons of teenagers (mostly boys) playing these games. We were only in there for a second but it was maybe the most overwhelming second that I have experienced so far in Korea. Apparently this is what kids (like my students) do for the 3 hours of free time that they get on Saturdays. We had the first American food that I have had since being here- burgers and fries- for lunch. Pretty tasty but no new york city burger. Then we wondered around the back streets going into stores- sadly we had to resist actually shopping as we have yet to be paid and are running low on funds. Anyway, as soon as I do get paid I definitely plan on returning as the cloths are awesome (something I had guessed by all my people watching) and super cheap!