“Nature is beautiful, not because it changes beautifully but simply because it changes. “
Nam June Paik
I am about three hours into a flight from Brisbane to Incheon Korea writing this essay on the notes of my iPhone. There is still about six hours until the destination.
I wish I could Google quotes to add about all things Korean but to add them I shall have to wait until I arrive as there is no internet while flying. I’m flying Jetstar and it’s been really nice with good food and coffee and friendly and kind staff.
I am heading to South Korea for a holiday and exhibition with my Korean artist friend Hansol Lim at Green Gallery in Daejeon. Daejeon is sort of in the middle of Korea half way between Seoul and Busan at either end. We exhibited together at James Hollys gallery called Holly Gallery in Queensland about ten years ago.
I was a bit stressed the last few days and today when Yannick drove me to the airport in heavy peak hour traffic.
I wasn’t going to go to Korea for the show but my great grandmother friend Gwenda Shinner said don’t worry about money and that I should definitely go.
I think I have been stressed about travelling as it’s been about three years since my last international trip and that was an art residency at Mothership in Brooklyn New York.
I thought that I would never travel abroad again as now that I own my own apartment there are lots of costs. Welcome to being an adult.
Instead of travelling abroad these last few years I have done a few art residencies at the Big Ci in Bilpin Australia which is nestled next to the Wollemi national Park hosted by my good friends Rae and Yuri Bolotin. I have also had many solo exhibitions at Kirra Hill Community Gallery with a lot of money spent on big A0 photos, picture framing, neons, DVDs burned, many sketchbooks filled with drawings and text and sculptures.
I have also renovated my apartment with a new IKEA kitchen, new washer and dryer and new gas range and oven and dishwasher and me and Yannick painted the kitchen/ living room and bedroom white. That cost a bit but it feels nice to invest in my apartment as it adds value but I shall never sell it as it’s the perfect size and location for me and it’s filled with my art, mainly big A0 photos and other artists’ work all framed.
The initial quote in this essay will be by Korean artist Nam June Paik who was famous for being the first international artist to make contemporary video art. He influenced me immensely when I started making video installations in art school in the early nineties and the art school was in Sydney called College of Fine Arts.
My favourite work by Paik is called TV Buddha with a small Buddha sculpture and a video camera and small seventies style tv opposite playing the video feed of the Buddha sculpture.
“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.”
Buddha
I have six degrees of separation from the work TV Buddha as it was commissioned by Australian art philanthropist John Kaldor as sometimes I send Kaldor small artworks or zines and he sends little thank you letters and even bought some drawings I sent him of him and his family many years ago.
I remember my mum brought me a brochure from the Guggenheim in New York many years ago after she travelled there as Paik was having a retrospective there. I’m not sure if he was still alive then. However, for a contemporary artist to have a retrospective at the Guggenheim is the pinnacle of success in the field of contemporary art. It makes the artist the bees knees in the art world. Other amazing artists to have retrospectives there are Barbara Kruger, Joseph Beuys and Matthew Barney.
I’ve written about the Fluxus art movement from the 1960s in my first book Mothers Love and it was an international movement of art that included Paik and they made installations and also featured a lot of performance art. Other artists included Yoko Ono, Joseph Beuys and George Maciunas who was the founding member.
In conclusion I’m about halfway to Korea now and looking forward to a pumpkin and feta quiche and spinach and ricotta sausage roll. The kind airline host gave me a free orange juice and the rest shall arrive as soon as the airline hosts come around with their food trolley. I’m looking forward to arriving as I’m staying at a hotel close to the airport in Incheon for the first night and I want to find a cheap restaurant that’s open late as I have a hankering for a kimchi pancake. Also I hope to do my ten drawings tonight at the hotel as part of my ten drawings a day project. Maybe on the coach to Daejeon tomorrow I shall finish this essay with some quotes. However I just tweaked my essay at the hotel in Incheon after the flight to calm my mind as my nerves were pretty shattered from a long day of travelling.
