Public Sculpture

From ancient symbols to the abstract, and from social & historical acknowledgement to the inspiration of nature, Seoul displays a wide variety of public sculpture. I have been photographing some of this sculpture as I walk by and wanted to share some of it with you.

Symbolic

This strikes me as a symbolic form, a sign or insignia. The dragon and the pheasant were both royal symbols of the Josen Dynasty and I’m guessing that this is a royal symbol, or an abstracted version of one.

The Venerated General Lee

I was told that this sculpture commemorates the General that began the Josen Dynasty in the early fourteenth century.

A young family

Representational but more abstract, this is a nice young family outside an insurance building. I'm guessing that Korea is a bit like the US in that new, large, public buildings are required to display art.

Family in a bird boat

A scholar (perhaps)

The Korean culture is dedicated to education. Most kids have no responsibilities in the household except to make good grades. The competition for college entrance is fierce.

I call this the girl scout cookie scuplture

Does this look like two birds kissing to you?

Inspired by the sea?

This looks like an undersea form to me. One of my favorite sculptures in Seoul. Sea Shell pouring in to the Chonggeychon River

This hundreds of years old creek was buried over after the war and then a super highway was built over it. In the last few years they took down the highway and built this artificial river. It's a linear park that goes on for miles and the people love it. Families, tourists and young lovers stroll along it. The river is below street level so you can walk along it unencumbered by traffic.

Some sculpture just has good taste

An old mill (perhaps)

Another of my favorite sculptures. I like the texture and simplicity of this one.

There are many more photographs but these seemed like they might be more interesting than the others. I'll be returning to Chicago soon and boy am I glad to be returning after three months. I may come back to Korea someday for the purposes of work, but for now my mind is on going home. As Dorothy says, "there's no place like home". I'm tapping my heels now.

Get off your horse!!!

Jongmyo Hambai


This Hambai (which means commandment stone, I think) states that everyone passing by Jongmyo should get off his horse to respect his ancestors’ honor. The Jongmyo Shrine (nearby) is dedicated to the spirits of Korea's royal ancestors. The royal family of the Joseon Dynasty (1394 to 1910) paid homage to their forefathers in the time-honored Confucian tradition. In February 1413 the custody department recommended this sign of respect for officials, of both high and low rank, and commoners passing by Jongmyo that they should get off of their horses. This memorial stone was erected in October 1633, the forth year of King Heonjong. It stands at 132 cm high, 58 cm wide and 20 cm long.

The inscription reads “All should get off their horses when they arrive here”.

I would have added exclamation points myself, but I'll concede that that is a matter of personal style.

Musical Instrument Mall

I was walking on a major street yesterday, Jongno Street, and I turned at a corner just to get away from the crowd. I found myself on unfamiliar streets, narrow sidewalks, pork restaurants every few feet. It was becoming twilight and I wanted to get home. It was slightly unsettling to see all those pigs’ feet and snouts sitting out in the baskets in front of the restaurants. I knew where I was generally and where the hotel was but I then came to a very busy street. There was no cross walk and no underground passage that would allow me to get to the other side of the street. I thought I would have to walk back to Jongno Street, going out of my way, just to get to the hotel.

There was this giant concrete structure above the busy street, but I didn’t know what it was. Was it some kind of enclosed elevated train? Not likely, but the structure had no windows and the steps leading up to it were well worn and it looked like the kind of place people might go if they were escaping the law. I saw a couple of people go up the steps and into the building. They seemed like regular people and I do feel quite safe here in Seoul. So I decided to walk up the concrete stairs and take a peek inside. (Something I would never do in the United States).

I got up there and walked through the door and I was so surprised. I saw pianos, lots of pianos, new pianos. What was going on here? It was a giant musical instrument mall. Violins and guitars and wind instruments, I thought of my daughter Rebecca and how much she would like to be here to see this. I thought about how much Anita liked to play the piano and her musically talented family. So I'm glad to be able to share these photos.

It was another interesting discovery for me. By the way, I made it back to the hotel in just a few more minutes after I left the mall. Seoul continues to surprise me.

Namdaemun Shopping Area Revisited

I went back to Namdaemun Market to look around. I chose the day after Lunar New Year and the market wasn’t very crowded and many of the stalls weren’t open. Still there were quite a few people shopping.

Row after row of retail boths

Under the plastic sheets are restaurants

Clothing is the number one product for sale (I think)

It's a real shopping bazaar

Like Walmart without a roof

Many shops are closed on this day

There is always street food

Silkworm pupae (getting hungry?)

A restaurant with a roof

Ginseng shops are popular

There were also food stands that sold fruit, dried fruits, nuts and fish. And numerous other shops that I've already forgotten about.

Textures of Seoul

The Korean peninsula has many mountains and lots of granite. It’s understandable that granite is used for building and surface treatments. There are also many other kinds of materials for construction, bamboo, wood varieties, and other types of stone.

These look like primitive totems don't they?

Yet the sense I get is that Korean builders really enjoy using textures for their own sake. Sometimes it might be to reference a style of architecture, other times it makes sense as a no-slip surface. But I don’t think that the beauty of natural textures is lost to these builders or overwhelmed by their practicality.

This is a very fancy floor in a modern office building.

Here is a more or less random selection of surface treatments that I have photographed.

Public building

Ground detail

Fence post and walkway

Street bench and memorial?

Don't know what this is

Corner of building

Small tree wrapped in straw for winter

Side of building


Door detail

Straw mat around tree

Stone carvings

A street

From sidewalk to building entrance (with toes of shoes)

A street

Side of building


A sidewalk planter

Restaurant window, surely an architectural reference

Detail of restaurant window

An entryway to a restaurant


A shop using half-timber architecture


A shop using half-timber architecture

A stone lined embankment

A back door, a utility door

A corner


A corner

A palaza

A public thing, not really sure.

A curb and street.

A door on a street with shops

An alleyway