2nd Dream of Winter at Gallery Artside

The things I put myself through in the name of art!

This poor bear is stuffed in the front window of Gallery Artside in Insadong. It's part of the 2nd Dream of Winter exhibit running from December 12th through the 28th. If you happen to be near the Insadong area, it's worth a short visit.

The exhibit is small. It consists of pieces inspired by the dreams of childhood. My guess is if you like cartoons that you'll like this exhibit. It's sweet, simple, and free.

It features the following artists: Back Seung Woo, Hiroshi Kobayashi, Lim Taek, Noh Jun, and Yoon Byung Woon. Here is the gallery's introductory message to the exhibit:

With the coming of Christmas, this exhibition was planned to cherish
hopeful and happy dreams in childhood. To have a dream and to have an
ambition in childhood itself has significant meanings to it and we get
encouraged from parents or acquaintances. However, circumstances turn
around when we become an adult. We are not asked of our dreams
anymore when we become an adult. It is considered immature for an
adult to have a dream and we take cautions ourselves considering it as vain 'day
dream'. Especially, modern people are worn and tore in fierce
competition and are not allowed to have a dream anymore. With the coming
of Christmas, time when we spend time with the beloved families, we have
set opportunities for not only children but also adults to speak out their
dreams freely in the name of a '2nd day dream'. You,
standing here. What dreams do you have now?

If you go to this exhibit and find my recommendation was a sour one, I do not apologize for this. Why? Because next door to this exhibit is a small permanent robot museum and across the street is a nostalgia shop full of cartoon characters. Just check those out. Insadong is also full of other galleries, although they aren't as animated as this one.

PISAF Recap

The 9th Puchon International Student Animation Festival comes to an end today. I was able to make it two of the days. In case you couldn't go, here is just a small fraction of what you missed.There were hours and hours of screenings of student films and animated films from all around the world. The student films were a good way to get a sneak peak at some of the future leaders in animation. Also, it's a good way to take notes on the audience reacting to several different films.There were International special guests such as Bill Plympton, a very successful independent animated filmmaker from the United States. He screened many of his short films, shared short stories, gave the audience some useful tips and some drawing lessons. Afterwards, he gave everybody a Bill Plympton drawing of his popular pug character.
Takayuki Matsutani, President of Tezuka Productions of Japan screened the openings to Atom (Astro Boy) throughout its various revivals as well as the short film The Legend of the Forest. All animators should watch The Legend of the Forest for a visual history lesson of animation techniques. He gave a humorous drawing lesson as well.
And the PISAF mascots were also on hand to make trouble. Which mascot do you prefer? This year's simple shaped creature or another year's wacky dog?

9th Puchon International Student Animation Festival (PISAF 2007)

The 9th Puchon International Student Animation Festival (PISAF) is just around the corner!

This looks worth checking out.
Scheduled are many screenings of animations by students and professionals from around the world. Even a screening of the original animated Transformers will be shown. I'm personally looking forward to the Tezuka Osamu Special which will show all the Atom (Astro Boy) openings and more.
In addition to the screenings, there are also workshops, sessions with industry insiders, and a book fair tailored specifically for animation people like you and me. Everybody will be there! If you are interested in learning more about animation in Korea, I think this festival will be a good chance to do just that.

Here's some more details:

When: November 2nd (Fri.) - 6th (Tue.), 2007
Where: Boksagol Cultural Center, Bucheon, Korea (Bucheon is accessible via the Seoul subway system.)
Promoter: PISAF Committee Office
Supervision: Korean Society of Cartoon and Animation Studies
Website: www.pisaf.or.kr

Telephone: +82-32-325-2061~2

If you don't go, you may end up feeling like this cat! This cat and other images were taken from the PISAF 2007 poster which can be downloaded from the PISAF website. It is a good place to learn much more.

I'm going to leave this post up today and over the weekend. Come back Monday for a new post. I have plenty more up my sleeve!