Hello All! Sorry to update a day late, but I was really tired again last night!!
Yesterday we went to Chugye University for the Arts to visit some of the printmaking classes there!! It was different from our Hongik visit because we got to visit a few different classes, and just sort of pop in on them. I liked this a lot better, because we weren’t just hovering the entire time it seemed the students were a lot more willing to talk to us! We even made some Facebook friends from his Junior class! (Yay friends Kim MinJeong and Ko Dahee!!)
A group picture of us and our new friends from Chugye University!
We learned that in Korea the printmaking major is pretty much a set track that excludes all other classes. The students who select this major are put in the same classes, in the same order, for all four years. Our guide, Jung Hun Jo Gysoonim told us that about 80% of printmaking students will stick to exclusively printmaking related classes (which include a theory class and some art history) for their time at Chugye. It was really different for us, who don’t really have a printmaking major. We have a studio art major, and even then we only scratch the surface of different techniques! At Chugye (and also at Hongik) there are entire semesters dedicated to one technique. It seemed strange then, that with such intensity in their practice, that printmaking is on such a decline in South Korea! Gyosoonim expressed his dissapointment with us several times abou the state of printmaking in Korea, he said that people didn’t see it as real “art” but as more of a lower middle class craft. Because people don’t see it as art they don’t want to purchase it and the medium suffers.
On a lighter note, here are some photos from our visit to the classes!
The Junior class where we made our new friends!!
🙂
That 3D art seems to be popular with students over here, we have seen it quite a bit!
Look at those presses!
Some giant presses, wish we had some of those!
Rollers half the size of Aubrie!!
This piece was really cool, but we didn’t get to see these students in action!
Each student got their own little work hub, here’s what they looked like.
Another student I wished I could have met, they didn’t show up for class though! This was taken in the graduate student room.
One of the graduate students hard at work!
Another shot of the artist who’s work I liked!
This guy was really cool! He studied abroad in England so he had a touch of an accent and was doing a piece inspired by the Deathly Hallows! He was a fun guy to talk to in the Freshman woodcut class!
The freshman woodcut class!
The campus was really nice, but not as neatly gardened as Hongik. It had a small town feel to it, and was very relaxed! They also had their own building for printmaking studios, we just have the one tiny studio and they have an entire building? What gives Concordia?
The campus
The printmaking building.
The college visit didn’t take very long, but Cheryl spotted a sign advertising the Orchestra performance later that night. While we waited for the performance we headed down to Dongdaemun market were rumors were that you could haggle your way to really cheap stuff. Unfortunately the rumors were over exaggerated and stuff was pretty expensive! We did get some hats (which we needed for our temple visit on Saturday) and I picked up a sweater and some more little gifts!
The Orchestra performance was lovely, and although I’m not a huge music nut I really enjoyed going! They were so talented!!
That’s all for now, but we have another full day ahead of us!
Hello Korea! 