Art shows this week

Hyundai card design library features 15,000 rare design books. The library’s exterior was constructed in a method similar to a traditional Korean house. The entrance was built with black bricks and the windows and crossbeams are covered in Korean paper, translating the beauty of traditional architecture into something modern.”

Filled with numerous sewing needle factories and textile manufacturers that supply the neighboring Dongdaemun Market, Changsin-dong has been largely a working-class neighborhood since the 1960’s. It is in this historic district where artist Nam June Paik spent part of his early childhood, and where his memorial now stands. Located in a quiet and unassuming part of a narrow alley, the memorial is in the shape of a hanok, the traditional Korean house, making it visibly different from the rest of the neighborhood. One step inside the main entrance, you get an immediate glimpse of Paik’s artistic style, at the door, which is created from putting nine televisions side by side. The televisions depict scenes from history to capture the environment in which Paik grew up. Born in Seoul in 1932, Paik lived in Hong Kong, Japan, Germany and the U.S. throughout his lifetime, before returning to Seoul in 1984. His diverse life experiences are manifest in his artwork. The inside of the house is a simple L-shape with a small courtyard, allowing visitors a short but thorough look into the life of Paik as an artist. The memorial features a short history of Paik’ career with commentary from friends and influences, as well as his signature television art projects, such as Good Morning America and collaboration with soprano Sumi Jo. At the end, you can enter a room modeled after Paik’s apartment in Soho, New York, where you can watch the interactive biography, the Paper Theater. Nam June Paik...

It’s that breathtaking feeling you get looking out the window of a night plane, when you have that moment of awe at all the tiny yellow lights in the distance and think, “Wow, the city looks like this.” Photographer SeongJoon Cho calls this “rediscovery” or the “ability to find new angles in a familiar image” and uses his drone to return you to that feeling over and over again.