Kormore

5 Urban Artists in Korea You Should Know

KOCCA — Thu, 16 May 2013 06:45:12 +0000

Image: Euljiro episode featuring artwork by Frenemy, Vandal, Junkhouse, shot by Junseok Seo.

Street art in Korea is not as widespread as it is in other international metropolitan areas such as New York and London. Graffiti is generally confined to districts like Hongdae or Mullae, which are known for their youth culture and originality.

The Seoul Urban art Project (http://www.sup-project.com/index.htm) has been changing this notion. A 14-strong collective of artists working in different mediums, they all have one thing in common: an aptitude for creating images in outdoor spaces and making them look remarkable.

Most of the artists’ skills are not confined to graffiti, the more traditional form associated with street art. They work in many artistic mediums, usually on buildings that are about to be torn down, meaning their labor is usually temporary. In the year since the group started working on the project, they have been featured heavily in Korean and international media and have completed five projects in five separate Seoul areas, all of which has been heavily documented through film and photography.

Their mission to create beautiful, contemporary art in unusual areas has been a huge success.

Here are five creative belonging to Seoul Urban art Project, with examples of their impressive work.

JunkHouse

As the initiator of the group, JunkHouse deserves recognition. An excellent street artist, she also dabbles in graphic design and illustration, which you can see influences her larger-scale projects. In the past she has created murals for brands such as make-up store Olive Young in Korea and on the front of arts venue Platoon Kunsthalle in Gangnam. Junkhouse describes “the city as one giant organism,” an artistic portrayal that surely influenced the creation of SUP.

▶Image: Doha Troop episode shot by TJ Choe

Vakki

Old advertisements from the 80’s and 90’s are Vakki’s inspiration for her fun, colorful and edgy designs. As well as dabbling in contemporary urban art in outdoor spaces, she is also a videographer who has made films for Nylon and Nike, and regularly VJs at a variety of events. Vakki’s work is meaningful but packs a playful, visually gorgeous punch. She mainly works with wheat paste collages for the Seoul Urban art Project.

▶Image: Danggogae episode shot by Hez Kim

Handy

Handy, short for ‘handyman’ repeats a similar image of a friendly, waving alien creature throughout his Seoul graffiti. He deals in bright colors and his cheerful alien counterpart can often be seen waving ‘annyeong’, or ‘hello’ in Korean, to passers-by. He hopes his work is a calming influence on people suffering with the stress of modern life in the city.

▶Image: Buk Ahyun Dong episode shot by Juno Hwang

Jazoo Yang

In an interview, innovative artist Jazoo Yang once said, “My works are stories about modern people having no choice but to live in solitude because of the social system.” Jazoo Yang often uses her body as a tool; her fingers become a brush, for example. She also enjoys drawing on objects she finds on the street – trash, basically – and placing them back in their original position.

▶Image: Buk Ahyun Dong episode shot by TJ Choe

Basara

This artist, Basara, having been interested in graffiti since the late 90’s, usually creates a more established type of street art, ‘tagging’ his name on outdoor structures. He states that the happiness painting brings him is the most important aspect of his art, and explains that his main inspiration is people, mostly those that surround him in his everyday life.

▶Image: Euljiro episode shot by Junseok Seo

Which artist is your favorite?

Seoul Urban art Project is currently holding a series of lectures, seminars, art displays and film screenings at Sangsang Madang in Hongdae, Seoul.

Lee Hyori Runs for Miss Korea…Kind Of.

KOCCA — Fri, 10 May 2013 05:32:49 +0000

The biggest news in Kpop this week is that Lee Hyori – ‘Queen of Kpop’ as the starlet is sometimes referred to – is back with an almighty bang after a three-year hiatus from her music career. Her long-awaited self-written new song, ‘Miss Korea,’ has received an all-kill in the Korean pop charts after its release last Tuesday at midday on May 6th, causing Lee Hyori to cry with happiness. The director Cha Eun Taek tweeted that the singer sent him a text stating, ‘I’m crying right now’ in reaction to topping the charts.

The tune, a melodic piece with a soft jazz feel, is a detour from the current fast, electro or hip hop-style Kpop many other Korean stars seem to be favoring at the moment.

The music video has also gone down well with fans according to comments on popular Kpop sites. One Allkpop commenter POP!POP! stated, “This mv and song are absolute perfection for her comeback. I couldn’t be more pleased. I mean wasn’t anyone else a little nervous? It’s hard to take that long of a break and comeback. I couldn’t be happier with this!”

Fans are attributing their love of the comeback in part to Lee Hyori’s sensual but understated 60’s-influenced look. The songstress, who has been a successful pop star for ten years now, is often commended for her classic taste and extremely youthful image. In fact, Lee Hyori is celebrating her 34th birthday today on May 10th 2013.

Many people are questioning the message the song and the music video seems to be presenting. Lee Hyori appears to be poking fun at Korea’s attitude towards beauty and plastic surgery by surrounding herself in a tongue-in-cheek way with scissors and cutting tools and appearing in a surgeon’s office. The song backs this up, suggesting to all women that you don’t need to worry about what others think and that you are already Miss Korea: a winning beauty queen.

Just like Lee Hyori in her newest video performance.

Lee Hyori’s new album, “MONOCHROME” will be released on May 21 and will stage a comeback show on Mnet on the 22nd.

What do you think of Lee Hyori’s new song and MV?

Sources : soompi, allkpop

The Year of Girls: Girls Generation is modeling for LG and GLAM debuts

KOCCA — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 10:58:05 +0000

Girls Generation attends the 2013 Cinema 3D Smart TV event for LG!

Members Sooyoung, Seohyun, Jessica, Tiffany, Yuri, and Taeyeon were the promotional models for one of LG’s newest creations. The girl group signed up to be models for LG’s Cinema 3D TV brand in the middle of January and Febuary 14th, 2013 was the first day they came to promote the product in real life. The girls were apart of the promotions at Seocho Yangjaedong LG Electronics Seocho R&D Campus.

GLAM it up, ladies.

Last month, Big Hit Entertainment’s girl group GLAM released their music video for the girls’ new single “I Like That”.The comedic three minute and fourteen second video channels two bands from YG Entertainment with a hint of humor. The video background and girls attire share a striking resemblance to 2NE1 videos of yesteryear, especially “I Am The Best”. While the men’s clothing and boy band inspired dance moves, remind many of Big Bang and boy groups all over K-pop. Their video is a refreshing change from the usual cute and doll like music video concepts of other new girl groups.

“GLAM is a group that is focused on vocals. However, it’s ironic that they will be one source of a program that creates human voices through a machine. In the future, the relationship between humans and machines will probably continue this way,” Big Hit Entertainment president, Band Shi Hyuk, was quoted in the summer

GLAM followed up “I Like That” with a Jordan Version parody and Zinni released a bboy remix practice video version. Despite a successful comeback performance, GLAM is adapting to their new 4 member status after Trinity left the group due to personal reasons. Her impending departure was under review following their “Party XXO” single. GLAM is composed of the following members: Dahee, Miso, Zinni and Park Ji Yeon. They made their debut with the single “Party XXO” on July 19th, 2012.

Sources: Nate, Digital Times and News 1

“The Snow Queen” 3D to arrive in South Korea

KOCCA — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:42:26 +0000

Wizart Animation sold The Snow Queen to CCS Media for South Korea!

The upcoming storybook recreation is headed to Korea in a fancy way. This month, the Russian company Wizart Animmation sold rights to the 3D film to a number of countries (namely: Indonesia, Ukraine, Brazil, Israel Middle East, Germany) and South Korea was among them.

Wizart Animation General Producer Yuri Moskvin stated the following about the deal: “We’re thrilled to see international buyers responding so well to this iconic fairy tale which is already so beloved by Russian movie-goers. With its cutting-edge story-telling and remarkable stereoscopic 3D effects, ‘The Snow Queen’ highlights the capabilities of a new generation of Russian filmmakers and animators to create first-class family entertainment for a global audience. Following the success of ‘The Snow Queen’, Wizart Animation has started to produce the sequel, which is preliminary scheduled for 2014.”

“The Snow Queen” was written and produced by Maxim Sveshnikov, Vlad Barbe and directed by famed producer/director Timur Bekmambetov. The Hans Christian Andersen influenced tale is about a boy named Kai. He is lost in a cursed winter wonderland. His sister Gerda embarks on a journey to find him in the world made by The Snow Queen.

“The Snow Queen was released in Korean theaters on January 3rd, 2013.

What recent South Korean animation flick graced the silver screen this year so far?

“Pororo: The Racing Adventure”.

The seventy-seven minute film, released on January 24th, 2013, is about Pororo and his friends competing in a Super Sledding Competition against all odds. They take special training from tough delivery turtles. They travel from Porong village to ice country of Northpia to be apart of the competition.

As of Febuary 10th, 2013, the movie attracted around 756,564 movie goers. In addition to buying rights to foreign movies and releasing ”Pororo: The Racing Adventure”, Korea has a busy year planned with promoting the joint North American movie “The Nut Job” and completing a variety of other projects introduced at the Asian Ameriican Summit.

Sources: Wizart Animation, AWN.com, Hancinema and Naver

Wemade to Produce 40 Mobile Games in 2013

KOCCA — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:21:56 +0000

Wemade is going global.

The South Korean gaming company plans to focus on marketing overseas this year. China and Japan are apart of the many countries in its global agenda. The genre of the games will range from MMORPG, MO RPG, TPS, AOS and many others. Wild Runner is one of the first games to be released this year. It sold 4.2 million and reached the number one spot in Apple’s and Google’s App Store.

In 2012, accumulated 11 million dollars in sales from their mobile games alone and they continued to release popular games in the second quarter. Their success created a stepping stone for the mobile game market.

Wemade’s fourth quarter’s revenue grew significantly from the third with an increase from 2.3 million to 8.87 million dollars. Viking Island, Touch Fighter, and Candy Pang were among the total of ten mobile games released in 2012. Those games were downloaded by dedicated gamers around 10 million times.

What other games does the company offer?

The following are the list of games cell phone users love from a variety of genres:

Chaos & Defense

Viking Island

Rhythm Scandal

Pet Island

Hero Square

Friend Fighter

Project Dragon

Goblin Mobile

What is WeMade all about? Wemade’s official USA site states the following about the history of the company:

“Established in 2000, WeMade Entertainment Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ: 112040) is an international game developer & publisher that has grown from a handful of passionate game pioneers to a group of over 1,000 game enthusiasts.

Starting with its first and a hit title “Legend of Mir 2”, which has garnered over 200 million online PC gamers internationally, WeMade Entertainment has continued to develop and service dozens of PC and Mobile based games for fun loving gamers since its inception.

Established in 2008, WeMade Entertainment USA, Inc. (DBA: WeMade USA) is the business and publishing arm of WeMade Entertainment Co., Ltd. for the Western world. Working with its parent and twelve sister companies, WeMade USA dedicated to serving gamers with a portfolio of entertaining, high quality PC and Mobile games.”

Sources: Thisisgame and Wemadeusa.com

Facts About “Gangnam Style” Elevator Guy Noh Hong Chul + Dal Shabet Focuses on Solo Activities

KOCCA — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:15:35 +0000

Gangnam and Noh Hong Chul Style.

Who is the dancing man in the elevator? His name is Noh Hong Chul and his purpose is entertaining everyone. The South Korean entertainer and entrepreneur has baffled the world with his baffling elevator moves over Psy. His dance is even known as the infamous “lewd dance”, and his new global stage name is Elevator Guy. Now, the time has come for you to learn five things about him you never knew.

1. He is 33 years-old. He may look like a student and act like a teen, but he was born on March 31,1979. The same year as singer and actor Kang Doo and Korean-American heartthrob Daniel Henney.

2. He is a true engineer at heart. Noh Hong-chul was a student of mechanical engineering at the Hongik University.

3. Noh is a fashionista. Following his discharge from the military, he created online fashion malls, Nohongchul.com and Dream and Adventurous Hongchul-Land Corporation. Also, he sold a variety of party supplies.

4. He is a tour guide.His company Hongchul Tour provided budget trips in China. On occasion, he personally guided his customers during the trips.

5. Noh has hosted numerous programs. He has been a host or been apart of a panel for over 10 programs including MBC Come to Play, TvN Korea’s Got Talent and Mnet Trend Report.

Dal Shabet will be focusing on their many sherbet flavors.

Since their debut, the girls received alot of attention in the international market. Foreign countries have shown an interest in hiring them. So, the girls are taking a break from Dal Shabet to focus on their individual career opportunities like advertisement models for a Chinese mobile phone company. They began promoting their single “Have, Don’t Have” since November 2012 and their second anniversary as a group was on January 6th.

“Dal Shabet will finish promoting “Have, Don’t Have” the first week of January. The members will then focus on their individual projects for a while,” their agency, Happy Face Entertainment, announced in a statement.

After taking the stage at KBS Music Bank and MBC Music Core, the girls performed their song for the last time on SBS Inkigayo on January 6th.

Dal Shabet is a six member girl group created by record production duo E-Tribe.The group, which is also known as Sweet Shabet, hired Woohee to join after the departure of original member Viki. They have a string of songs they promoted during the course of two years including: “Supa Dupa Diva”, “Pink Rocket”, “Bling Bling” and “Hit U”. They made a cameo appearance in the hit 2011 drama Dream High and three movies in 2012.

Sources: Nate.com, Psy’s Gangnam Style video

2PM Announces Album and Tokyo Concert + Taecyeon Joins “We Got Married”

KOCCA — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 03:15:06 +0000

Japan will be on the indefinite afternoon shift with 2PM.

In January, the group announced that they will hold a concert entitled Legend of 2PM in Tokyo Dome in April of 2013. The concert, that has a venue that can hold over 100,000 fans, will be held April 20th and 21st. 2PM frequently sells out concert venues and this particular event is expected to be no different. Their album “Legend of 2PM” is scheduled to be released right in time for Valentines’ Day on February 13th. The project contains 13 songs including the pre-released 2012 singles “Masquerade” and “Beautiful”. Solo tracks from 6 members of the band will be apart of the bonus CD.

“2013 will be the year 2PM soars to new heights. 2PM′s Tokyo Dome concert will show an upscale version of the group in performances that can only take place at the Tokyo Dome. Please give us your affection and support.” a JYP Representative said in a statement to enews.

On Febuary 1st, MBC informed the press that member Taecyeon would join the cast of the global version of “We Got Married”. His virtual wife will be from Taiwan. Singer and actress Gui Gui (also known as Even Gu) is paired with the JYP Nation member. K-pop will meet Mandopop is this new version of a Korean show favorite.

Who is Gui Gui?

She made her debut with the girl group Hei Se Hui Mei Mei (they changed their name to Hey Girl shortly after) and the seven member group worked with fellow boy band Lollipop F. She began her acting career in 2008 with the television drama “Mysterious Incredible Terminator”

2PM made their debut in Japan in 2011. They have had a string of popular singles including “Take Off”, “I’m Your Man”, “Ultra Lover” and “One Day”, a single featuring the vocals of male group 2AM. Before their debut in Japan, they helped sell out shows on the first leg of the “Wonder Girls World Tour” in the United States in 2010.

Sources: 2pm’s Facebook Page, Enews World, W Star News and baidu.com .

Winners from the 22nd Annual Seoul Music Awards

KOCCA — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 01:08:08 +0000

Stars filled the sky at the end of January!

On January 31st, celebrities from all genres (mainly from the music world) gathered at the Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea for the Seoul Music Awards. This was the 22nd annual awards show of its kind honoring the most influential in music from 2012.

The Bonsang Award has a special method of deciding on winners. The voting consist of 20 percent digital and album sales, 50 percent research, and 20 percent panel judging. The grand Daesang winner is chosen from the group of Bonsang winners.

The winners were announced in the following order:

Daesang Award – Psy

Bonsang Awards – Epik High, f(x), 2NE1, Huh Gak, SHINee, SISTAR, Secret, miss A, Psy, Big Bang, Lee Seung Gi and Super Junior

Best New Artist Awards – EXO-K, Ailee, B.A.P and Lee Hi

High 1 (Mobile) Popularity Award – Lee Seung Gi and SHINee

Performance Culture Award – Kim Jang Hoon

Album of the Year – G-Dragon’s “One of a Kind”

Digital Album of the Year – SISTAR’s “Alone”

Hallyu Special Award – Super Junior

R&B (Ballad) Award – K.Will

Hip Hop (Rap) Award – Double K

Best OST Award – CNBlue’s Jonghyun

Congratulations to all the winners!

Who performed at the event? The following are a few of the dynamic performers at the event:

EXO- K – “MAMA”

B.A.P – “Warrior”

Secret – “Poison”

f(x) – “Electric Shock”

2NE1 – “I Love You”

miss A – “Touch”

SISTAR – “Alone”

Ailee – “Heaven”

Lee Hi – “1,2.3.4″

Huh Gak – “The Person Who Once Loved Me”

Kim Jang Hoon – “My Way”

Jonghyun (CNBlue) – “My Love” (from “A Gentlemen’s Dignity” OST)

K.Will – “Please Don’t”

Lee Seung Gi – “Return”

Big Bang – “Bad Boy” and “Fantastic Baby”

SHINee – “Sherlock”

Super Junior/Unit group Super Junior M — “Sexy Free and Single” and “Breakdown”

Media outlet Sports Seoul started the Seoul Music Awards in 1990. It’s an annual award show honoring the superior achievements in the South Korean Music Industry (also known as K-Pop). This award show is considered one of the four major music award shows for K-Pop. The Melon Music Awards, The MAMAs (Mnet Asian Music Awards) and the Golden Disk Awards are the remaining three shows.

Sources: Chosun and Nate.com

Shinhwa to Release New Project on Their 15th Anniversary

KOCCA — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:51:23 +0000

After they traveled to “Venus”, Shinhwa is traveling through the solar system for a new female planet.

On December 30, the legendary boy band shared their New Years greetings for their fans through an online video. In the one minute clip, the members humbly wore traditional Korean clothing and announced that a new album and concert would be in the works in 2013.

“March 2013 will be Shinhwa’s 15th anniversary as a group. During their 14th anniversary concert, the group promised to hold a concert and release an album the following year. On March 24,2013, the group is going to release their 11th album and hold a concert on the same day,” their agency, Shinhwa Company, released in a statement.

In November, the group began working on the concept for the album and individual songs. This month was jam-packed with Shinhwa activities. Shinhwa’s Lee Min Woo and Andy attended the VIP movie premiere of Jeon Ji Hyun’s “The Berlin File” on Wednesday. Minwoo complete his first solo fanmeeting in Taiwan on Friday. Two thousand fans were in attendance at the fan meeting titled, “ ”2013 Lee Min Woo M Style Show in Taiwan”.

He was quoted at the event stating the following: “ “This year , Shinhwa will celebrate our 15th anniversary and I will also be celebrating my 10th anniversary since my solo debut as M. I thank you so much that I get to spend a good time with my Taiwanese fans and make special memories. In 2013, I hope that Shinhwa and M (my solo stage name) can return to Taiwan with a new album and concert.”

Minwoo is scheduled to hold a fan meeting in Beijing, China on February 22,2013.

Shinhwa released “The Return” on March 23,2012 and actively promoted the single “Venus”. This was the first project the boy band released since their 2008 album “Volume 9″. The members enlisted in the military following “Volume 8″ promotions and individually completed their 2 year mandatory military service.

Sources: Shinhwa Company’s Official Facebook Page, Korea Star Daily and Nate

Wonder Girls’ Sunye Weds James Pak

KOCCA — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:49:58 +0000

One Wonder Girl hitched … four more to go!

On January 26th, the leader of the Wonder Girls, Sunye, married Christian missionary James Park in a ceremony held at the Lotte Hotel in Sogongdong, Seoul. Sunye is the first active idol to get married. However, the press conference she held before her wedding was her last as a member of the Wonder Girls. She has now taken a leave from the group to focus on being a newlywed.

Park Jin Young and members of her agency JYP Entertainment were in attendance and a Jin Young and Wonder Girls’ Yenny even performed songs for the happy couple. In addition to the JYP Nation, fellow idols Girls’ Generation, Younha, Bada, Noel, Ahn Hye Won and Park Kyung Lim were also at the ceremony to support and congratulate the newlyweds.

Sunye and James will spend their first days as husband and wife on their honeymoon in the Maldives. They will return to his home in Canada to begin their new life together.

Sunye was quoted in the press conference and on Twitter sharing all the happy details about their bright future together. The following is an excerpt of what she expressed at the press conference:

“Personally, I feel marriage is a turning point in life and a new start. Since I was little girl, I enjoyed being on the stage and singing so I have pursued my dream until now. As time passed, I wondered about what direction my life would take next. Naturally, marriage came about and I think it is a new start and a turning point… I would like to have a son and a daughter. James really loves kids. Since I was a little girl, I always dreamed about having a happy family, so with that in mind, I believe James will be a good father too.”

Sources: SBS , Joongang and Nate