seoul snapshots

March 23, 2016 by Sara Radin in nostalgia

i first met my friend dana through an old co-worker. dana is from seoul, south korea and last year she came to new york for a few months. we became pals and kept in touch over email when she went back to korea. in october, i got to go to shanghai for work and extended my layover in seoul to stay with dana. seoul reminded me of an asian san francisco as it's super hilly and incredibly modern/cosmopolitan. there was amazing food, shopping, art and culture there. it was the trendiest place i've ever been with the trendiest people i've ever seen. there was shopping everywhere you looked! for example, i bought a turtleneck in the subway.

dana was an incredible, thoughtful host and greeted me with a package of goodies -- korean candies, postcards, magnets and a disposable camera. i hadn't used one in ten years but it was the perfect way to document my time there (although many of the photos sadly didn't come out). dana showed me kindness that seems to embody her culture -- through out the trip she showered me with desserts, treats and candies. she also taught me a lot about life there and we spent much of our time together comparing notes on our different cultures. for example, creative pursuits are not widely supported in seoul especially as a profession. hearing this made me feel especially lucky to live in a country where art making is both widely pursued and supported. that trip taught me not to take that for granted. dana and i continue to keep in touch through the interwebs, sharing insights and experiences from afar.

nostalgia // james turrell // across the globe

December 01, 2014 by Sara Radin in nostalgia

james turrell // key lime // 1994 // the israel museum — james turrell // *key lime* // 1994 // the israel museum

some thoughts: forever in awe of james turrell, whose work i saw in 3 different cities in recent times -- at the guggenheim in new york city, at the lacma in los angeles, and now at the israel museum in jerusalem. although i didn't eat turkey this year since i was in israel, i feel pretty thankful (and grateful) for inspiring transcontinental experiences like this. what i love about turrell is that his art completely engulfs the viewer in his colorful installations. when sitting in these spaces, one is able to appreciate some sweet silence amidst a characteristically noisy museum.

these works challenge the way in which the audience experiences and sees light: "treating light as a material in his impressive and magical works, turrell examines accepted conventions of consciousness and sight. in his spectacular installations, the spiritual and the technological intersect as light is framed, multiplied, altered, and isolated."

james turrell // breathing light // 2013 // lacma — james turrell // breathing light // 2013 // lacma

james turrell // aten reign // 2013 // guggenheim — james turrell // *aten reign* // 2013 // guggenheim

israel inspirations // shosh kormosh // order + cleanliness

November 30, 2014 by Sara Radin in travel inspirations

shosh kormosh // order and cleanliness // 1994-1995 // silverprint — shosh kormosh // *order and cleanliness* // 1994-1995 // silverprint

found myself mesmerized by the work of photographer shosh kormosh while in israel last week // "...she who spoke and researched unceasingly, seeking to absorb and know everything, [creating] a static space of stillness and silence."

the israel art museum's curator noam gal says: "[shosh kormosh] is a very significant photographer in israeli art history. though her career was brief since her artistic path only started at 40 and she died at 53, her influence has been enormous on artists in her time as well as after. [what was so unique about her work?] she would take images she found in home design magazines that she cut out and pasted, along with actual objects such as dried flowers, photographed and repeatedly enlarged them, and then arranged as photo collages. kormosh's biography plays a critical role in her works. after her birth to holocaust survivors in a displaced persons camp in germany following wwii, her family immigrated to israel. various onerous restrictions and rules regarding cleanliness and order marked kormosh's childhood. her life story was expressed largely through her works, which carry something dark, gloomy, and defiant in reaction to her up-bringing."

some thoughts: the black and white contrast of shosh kormosh's work is reminiscent of man ray's surrealist photographs. with common imagery collaged and placed in a stark black background, you begin to see these objects in a new light. the interesting repetition and placement of these items seems to highlight the harsh rules of the artist's upbringing. ultimately each piece feels like a snapshot or critique of a specific moment in the artist's life.

* images via gordon gallery *