Kim Ki-duk versus Korean Audiences

Art-house powerhouse Kim Ki-duk is known for his thought provoking, oddly plotted films. Dialogue is sparsely used, especially by the protagonists. This creates Kim’s trademark, atmospheric, sometime slow-paced stories.

Kim’s most well known film is probably Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring… a tale which follows the life of a young apprentice monk as he learns life’s lessons the hard way. This film is typical, with actions used in lieu of dialogue. The entire film takes palce in and around a small floating monastery.

Kim is much more successful abroad than in his home of South Korea. In fact, recent comments he made during an interview more or less criticized Korean film audiences for their lack of, well, brains. Perhaps he said the statements out of bitterness stemming from his lack fame in his native land. Perhaps he is partially right. South Korea is the land of candy-pop, soap operas, and bland flicks aimed more at box office success than anything else. Kim apologized, kind of, in an email to several media outlets.

Kim will continue to make films. His latest, Time, will be opening soon in France, a country where he has enjoyed success. He has a dozen films already released on DVD in the US and Europe.

Beijing's Street Art

Here is a link to more graffiti from Hong Kong as promised. Graffiti scene is also alive and well in the mainland. You might be surprised to know that while graffiti is illegal in most of the west, Beijing has a special zone, called Beijing’s 798 art zone, where graffiti can be painted legally. So much for the authoritarianism of the communist regime.

Graffiti was an important part of Mao’s communist revolution, with the propaganda posters of communist government like a form of sanctioned graffiti. Though there is some anti-establishment feeling amongst China’s sprayers, for the most part, there art is more a social commentary about China’s rapid development and their place (or lack of place) in this new society.

“Chinese artists are more likely to play cat and mouse with the government, and do it carefully.”

Get the full BBC photo essay and report on Beijing graffiti artists here.

Dutch Dj's Wild Middle East Weekend

One of the world’s most famous trance DJs, Tiësto, has recently been at the center of controversy. Two July forays into the Middle East proved tumultuous for the Dutch musician. First, a Lebanese web site claimed that they had information that radical Islamic group Fattah al-Islam was targeting Tiësto and hoped to assassinate him at a show in the historic Lebanese town of Byblos. The outdoor event, which took place on the beach, was heavily attended and the threat later admitted to be a hoax based on rumors.

Two days later, Tiësto failed to show up for a show in Manama, Bahrain causing the crowd to riot until police intervened. It is not known whether Tiësto simply decided not to perform or, as he claims, the promoters simply ran off with the money. The promoters refute this and have told local media outlets that they plan legal action against the DJ.

Despite these incidents, Tiësto's new album, Elements of Life has been a huge success, reaching fans as far away as, well, Bahrain and Lebanon.

Tiësto is currently touring in Canada.

Hong Kong's Graffiti Legend

Art and ego often go hand in hand. But how about using your art to claim ownership of a city and demand that you be installed as its ruler. Well, that’s what Tsang Tsou Choi did. Since the 1950s, he had been covering Hong Kong with graffiti messages claiming that the land rightfully belonged to his family.

Every city has crazy people, yes. But how many of these loonies achieved success on the international art stage. Known as the King of Kowloon, Tsang’s work has been sold at action. While some of Hong Kong’s art community has been charmed by his scribblings, they are fast disappearing. His death in July of this year brought about calls by the art world to preserve his work.

Urbanphoto.net gives Tsang his props: in a society that for decades stressed material gain and social mobility above all else, the King of Kowloon was an oddball and an outsider. His unique visual style influenced a generation of creative young Hong Kongers.

RIP Tsang Tsou Choi.

More about Hong Kong’s art scene in future posts.