headbone

A new discovery for me in town, the Korean Cultural Institute on Northumberland Avenue, currently has an exhibition to mark the anniversary of the start of the Korean War in 1950. There are many news reports on the war today, and most of them noting that it is a conflict much further from public consciousness than the major wars that bracket it, World War 2 and Vietnam. I struggled to think of many Korean War films beyond Sam Fuller’s Steel Helmet, and of course MASH which is often identified with the Vietnam war because of the the decade it was produced. The Wikipedia entry on the Korean War in contemporary culture is surprisingly short.

The exhibition is a selection of works from contemporary Korean artists on their response to the conflict. Grouped under four themes; “connections that transcend time and space”, “destruction and creation”, “Forgotten War, Unforgettable People” and “My Korea and it’s fragile Peace”.

It struck me walking round, just how little attention I’ve paid to this war, how little I know of it and how is surprising it was to see art inspired by it. I’ve never even thought about how it could be central to Korean existence even now, despite listening to reports of a torpedo attack endangering the ceasefire and watching the both sides of the divided nation play in World Cup games over the last few weeks.

Naturally given the role of a cultural institute in London a lot of the promotional material reference the role of the UK, and offers thanks for their support in the war. Not a sentiment I can easily relate to, but in this case, at least South of the 38th parallel and understandable one. The oddest aspect though is the quotes from British servicemen, veterans of the conflict, on the walls above the art work. They don’t really connect with what is on display, but I realised that these too were voices I’d not really heard before. Perhaps some of them had served in World War 2, but these were thoughts coming out of a conflict without the weight of mythology that war carries. I’m not sure if reverence or esteem is ever something that should be afforded to military actions, but Korea in this way seems to sit somewhere between the defeating evil legend of the 1940s and the shame of say Suez, Algeria or Vietnam.

I may be reading significance where known exists, but the art is worth a visit. I’d highlight Seung Woo Back’s Utopia Korea, which is a collage like reworking of photos of functional North Korean architecture, and DMZ Forest by Sang Youp Lee which is a wildlife photograph of part of the DMZ which reminded me of images from Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Tropical Malady or The Zone from Tarkovsky’s Stalker.

Exhibition runs until 17 July

Really like the new Ratatat album cover. Now must give it a...

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 05:29:11 -0400

Really like the new Ratatat album cover. Now must give it a listen.

Undrawn Hours Part of a collection of about 10 images currently...

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 05:58:00 -0400

Undrawn Hours

Part of a collection of about 10 images currently on display in the basement gallery space at the Teasmith tea house in Spitalfields market. Described as a “photographic exploration of remote Skagi peninsula… Scourged by winter storms and drained by the economic recession, this area is littered with abandoned farms and unused summer cabins, broken sheds and decommissioned boats, a stark reminder of the depopulation and decay of local farming and fishing industry.”

I was really impressed, but I am always drawn to images of crumbling and decay, well worth stopping in if you are in the area, and if the summer comes back I recommend the chilled green tea from the tea shop.

Exhibition ends 13 June.

Photographs by - Paolo Leonardi

Very pleasing… gurafiku: Japanese Book Cover: World Expo....

Thu, 27 May 2010 05:32:21 -0400

Very pleasing…

gurafiku:

Japanese Book Cover: World Expo. 1970.

Iceland: ridge, plume and basalt

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:07:46 -0400

Iceland: ridge, plume and basalt:

Timely recommendation from the Open University. Volcanoes and geology, no talk of ash clouds or economic cataclysm, just good old usually sturdy rocks.

Fragmentary evidence of sunshine on Sunday

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 07:42:47 -0400

Fragmentary evidence of sunshine on Sunday:

I think I took a good photograph, it doesn’t happen very often.

Mighty Ear Banger xplanes: the Republic XF-84H...

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:39:23 -0400

Mighty Ear Banger

xplanes:

the Republic XF-84H “Thunderscreech” - designed to combine the speed of jet aircraft with the long range, low fuel consumption and low landing speed of propeller-driven aircraft. It incorporated a turboprop engine in a modified F-84F Thunderstreak fuselage.

* Two were built. The first aircraft made 11 flights (Test Pilot Hank Baird), with 10 of these ending in forced landings. The second flew only once, Test Pilot Lin Hendrix refusing to fly the plane again.

* “The nickname comes from the fact that the aircraft was quite possibly the loudest aircraft ever built. Also known as the “Mighty Ear Banger”, it could reportedly be heard 25 miles away when on the ground. Unlike standard propellers which turn at subsonic speeds, the outer 24–30 inches of the blades on the XF-84H’s propeller traveled faster than the speed of sound even at idle thrust, producing a continuous visible sonic boom that radiated laterally from the propellers for hundreds of yards and was reportedly strong enough to knock a man down.

Coupled with the already considerable noise from the sub-sonic aspect of the propeller and the dual jet turbines, the aircraft was notorious for inducing severe nausea and headaches among ground crews. In one report, a Republic engineer suffered a seizure after close range exposure to the shock waves emanating from a powered-up XF-84H. The pervasive noise also severely disrupted operations in the Edwards AFB control tower by risking vibration damage to sensitive components and forcing air traffic personnel to communicate with the XF-84H’s crew on the flight line by light signals…”

Cutter's Way - Opening Shots

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 18:45:24 -0400

Cutter's Way - Opening Shots:

Not too much by way of spoilers in this blog post on the opening sequence of Ivan Passer’s Cutter’s Way, but hopefully enough to entice a few more people to watch it. This seemed like the natural film to turn to in honour of Jeff Bridges’ recent Oscar success, so it is fresh in my mind, it is remarkable in many ways but it is hard to explain how it manages to be equally entertaining and harrowing.

It seems like to advocate for Cutter’s Way you must say that it is an overlooked classic, and I am happy to add my voice to those calling for the recognition this film deserves. If you know me I am likely to sit you down some day and make you watch it, and you will like it.

I was introduced to it at a screening of another of Passer’s films by the ever reliable people at Second Run DVD, so start with Cutter’s Way and move on to Intimate Lighting.

My choice for a Good Friday movie - I Walked with a Zombie

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 08:55:18 -0400

My choice for a Good Friday movie - I Walked with a Zombie:

It was not the film I expected it to be, but I think it was quite an unexpectedly apt choice. You’ll have to watch it to see if you agree, my thoughts on religion and mysticism have not yet settled, and I’d like to watch Tourneur’s Cat People again to compare and contrast.

Trains in films - almost as exciting as lighthouses or islands

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 05:37:53 -0400

Trains in films - almost as exciting as lighthouses or islands:

Great collection of images - Part Five includes Kurosawa’s High and Low which has one of my favourite train sequences.

Six English Towns

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 05:12:54 -0400

I’ve been discovering the television work of Alec Clifton-Taylor, there is not enough television about architecture these days so I’ve had to turn to a classic BBC documentary of the 70s and 80s. There is no flash or gimmick in these shows, just fact and substance, they may look and sound a little old fashioned but it is a reminder that television can be compelling without having to worry about being overly entertaining.

Clifton-Taylor is a man who know his subject, is not afraid to voice an opinion but more important he and his producers are not afraid for him to pick up a rock and let him explain it’s geological heritage. This is a man not entirely suited to television, attempts at jokes sometimes fall embarrassingly flat, but that is allowed not to matter. He does not like cement so there we diverge, but when you are being spoken to as an adult and are learning along the way, you don’t need to be in complete agreement with the host. I am tempted to see if there is any writing by him on the redevelopment of London’s South Bank, I imagine that would be entertaining.

He commends and criticises, while giving a succinct building history of the featured towns. In Richmond in North Yorkshire there is praise for those saving a Victorian train station by converting it into a garden centre, while a 1930s housing development is less favourably addressed - ‘If houses have to look commonplace shouldn’t they be decently concealed’. Those who allow plants to grow on their houses spoiling the architectural aspects of it and who remove glazing bars from sash windows are particularly scorned (See the edition on Bradford-on-Avon).

There are currently two sections of these documentaries available online Devizes and Bradford-on-Avon. Hopefully the BBC archive will get round to making the other sixteen available in the not too distant future.

Playlist from Monday

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:03:00 -0400

At the end of some listening through the day, this was my final playlist to close out a satisfactory Monday.

The Struggle Against Unreality Begins - Matmos
I Fell In Love - Alasdair Roberts
Seba - Leafcutter John
Six Foolish Fisherman - Minotaur Shock
Jacking Off Making Airplane Noises - Sunroof
Cabernet - Aronas
Við og við - Ólöf Arnalds
Packs of Three - Arab Strap
Part One(Jessamine) - Rosy Parlane
Dopamine Clouds Over Craven Cottage - Stars of the Lid
Culture Tunnels - Aronas
I would’ve liked me a lot last night - Arab Strap
Ageless Visitor, Eroded Time - Autistici
Bury A Horse’s Head - Mika Vainio

A selection of the above found on Spotify - Monday 22-3