Rewrite of Rapunzel

Once in a quiet town in America, there was a mother who lived with her little and cute daughter. One day, the mother owed an infamous private moneylender large amount of money, but the high interest compounded to double the principal, so the dept became beyond her capacity. Instead of pressing her for the payment of the dept, the greedy moneylender required the mother to give up parental right of her adorable baby. It was too harsh for her; however, she had no choice. Then, the moneylender adopted the girl, and raised her for making her as a maid.

After she became a girl, the spiteful moneylender not only forced her to overwork for all of the household chores, but also totally abused her. Furthermore, she wasn’t allowed to go outside or watch TV at all. She wore rags rather clothes, and got extremely long hair because she even wasn’t provided things to wear or chance to cut her hair. Such a daily routine was so suffering and distressing for the little girl, she nevertheless tried to overcome everything by herself. Only one joy of her life was singing songs learnt from her mother and the radio programs. Once a headhunter of an entertainment company passing by the moneylender’s house, listened her singing by chance. He was totally surprised by her charming and angelic voice. By the doorbell, he suggested her to appear in American Idol*. She explained him her situation, and planned for escaping the house with him. After a couple of secret meetings via the doorbell, she could finally escape there, thanks to his help.

She was trained and educated to be a singer for several months. However, the first time appeared in American Idol, she got a not good score. It seemed she have a long way to the title. Therefore, the headhunter started to post some writings regarding her story on the internet. It truly had a great resonance with the public. It enabled a lot of people to cheer her, and reporters to wait her for interviewing. Despite other competitors’ promising talent and powerful performance on the stage, she could finally survive until the finals, and it was a truly successful debut for her as her singer. At the end, she became famous singer in her country, and could find her biological mother.

Lesson : Sometimes, selling a person’s drama or story can be the best way of marketing.

* American Idol : A totally famous reality television competition to find new solo singing talent.

Link of original version : http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm012.html

Written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

And Rapunzel's film adaptation of Disney, 'Tangled(2010')

The World's Greatest Invention

I insist that the greatest invention ever is the book, indeed.
 

There is no doubt that books have definitely contributed to build today’s society in education and literature, for example, if there were no books in the past, there would be neither schools nor poets in present. It is too harsh to think about my life without Minkyu-Park(my favourite author) and Arthur Limbaud(my favourite poet).

Two bookss written by Minkyu Park

Because books have had major proportion of our civilization, it is virtually impossible to imagine society without them, no matter how the function of the internet is getting bigger.



Arthur Rimbaud
(1854-1981)



Furthermore, paper books contain more reliable contents than the counterpart of the internet. Since the translation and copyright, and all the making process is guaranteed and charged by the company, safe and dependable information can be provided via traditional books. Maybe that's why I prefer going libraries to using the internet when I'm doing a research, although the convenience of the internet enabled a lot of students to leave from libraries.

 

Considering all of the aspects I presented, I personally believe that the book is the most superb invention ever.

Describe a building in your country or city

3. Describe a building in your country or city that you feel visitors should see in order to understand your culture or your idea of beauty.





Citroen DS

I’m more likely to be captivated by vintage things than brand-new things. If I gather enough wealth to buy own car, I will buy Citroen DS(Produced between 1955 to 1975) instead of new car. Because vintage things not only posses accumulated time, but also deliver me a lot of inspirations. And also, when it comes to talking about buildings, there is no exception.

So with my biased idea of beauty, let me introduce Dongdaemun Apartment, which is my favourite building in Seoul. It is close to Dongmyo-ap station and was built in 1965. Dongdaemun apartment has been called by ‘Celebrities’ flat’, since a lot of celebrities lived there at 1960’s.



from http://blog.naver.com/cabon99



Pics of Dongdaemun Apartment
Taken by me, 29 Aug 2010

The main color of Dongdaemun Apartment is grey. In general, the building is cracked and corroded so it enables people to imagine the past years. Whenever I visit there, I feel like I am having a trip to the past via a time machine. Having very old-fashioned structure, Dongdaemun Apartment seems like flats in Hong Kong noir movies. It has a courtyard hardly can be seen in Korean buildings. So simply, its structure looks like Korean alphabet ㄷ at first sight, but rather, it has a structure looks like 8. In this context, it seems a maze sometimes. And all of the rooms in one floor are arranged with shared balcony access to front doors. Therefore, on 6^th floor(top floor), you can see everything moving in the whole flat. Some people say that it is lacking privacy, but no one can deny such a structure reflects Korean lifestyle at that time. The washing lines(clothesline) installed from one side of the building to the other side of building are contribute to build such a Hong Kong noir film image, also. I’ve never seen using the washing line in that way in these days.

The washing lines
http://blog.naver.com/timberguy

Because of the unusual structure and bizarre mood, some wannabe architects and photographers often visit there. And once a totally famous variety show and a movie were on location in there, visitors started to increase rapidly. So I would recommend people who visit Seoul to see Dongdaemun apartment, instead of stereotyped place. Neither gorgeous this apartment is, nor is armed with cutting-edge design. Instead, it have treasured about a half century of time and history.

Steel cuts of Seven Days, the movie

+

This building will be redeveloped as an art space soon by the government. So I’ll visit there as often as I can before the redevelopment. However, on the other hand, Dongdaemun Apartment may not be suitable as a tourist attraction because it can be a damage to the inhabitants.

About my hero

 I will introduce a peculiar artist, Damien Hirst as my hero. Though neither did he give a reason for life nor is he hero of swashbuckling movies, Damien Hirst, a British artist is my hero since he always gives me a lot of inspiration.



Contrary to his easygoing attitude to art, his works are all sensational and shocking.  After he won the Turner prize in 1995, he became renowned as a notorius artist. 


  

Mother and Child Divided (1993)
Winner of the 1995 Turner prize

It was a controversial issue at first because his prized work was made of a severed dead cow. Many ardent animal lovers frowned upon his work, and newspapers reported this with  cynical headlines, like: “Carcase Man Hirst Scoops Turner Prize”.  



The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of
Someone Living (1991)



 

Moreover, his work “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living”, which is made of a shark in formaldehyde with a vitrine, was sold for £50,000 although the prime cost of shark was £6,000. Some people, like Stuckists, a British artist group, harbor the idea that there is no difference between his work and a regular shark caught by a fisherman. But, they cannot deny that it is a bona fide icon of 90’s British art.

For the Love of God(2007)

 Not only does he know how to get people’s attention, but he also knows how to maximize his commercial value, unlike other artists. (Since commercialism has been excluded from the art world).  In an interview, a reporter said to him, “Most people buy your work not because they like your art but because they consider your work as a luxurious brand.”  He answered, “If the buyers like it, no problem. My work is long-lasting and the customer service is good also.”



Beautiful Helios Hysteria Intense Painting
(with Extra Inner Beauty) (2008)



Opinions greatly diverge on evaluating him. Some people treat him as an art guru whilst others regard him as an eccentric geek. One thing is obvious,his work is on everyone's lips. He reminds me of “Fontaine” of Marcel Duchamp. By bringing the concept of ready-made art to the world, he expanded the definition of art. Or rather, he changed the meaning of existing art completely. Like Duchamp did, Damien Hirst is always trying to challenge tradition, raise questions about natural rules, and suggest new paradigms to the art world. Needless to say, such an attempt not only will enlarge the spectrum of modern art, but also will be superior paragon for would-be creators including me.



Official website of Damien Hirst : http://www.damienhirst.com

Many links related to Damien Hirst (e.g : Articles, Galleries) : http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/hirst_damien.html