'The Whistle-Stop Diaires'

Hiyaaa!!!
Thought it was about time that I showed you my magical collaboration with the super talented, animator, Will Adams!!! This was a project that began around 3 months ago at the start of my artist residency with Incheon Art Platform.
The idea was to work together in creating a visual diary based upon experiences on Baengnyeong-do... you can read the full speile below but, firstly you can have a little watch of the animation in all of it's rainbow coloured glory!!!....

''The Whistle-Stop Diaries' is a collaboration between Emma Bell and animator, Will Adams based on observations and experiences on South Korea's remote and most Northwestern island, Baengnyeong-do.
The concept was to mirror the practice of storytelling with reference to the idea of folktales as a method of communicating values and interpretations through sharing and 'passing on'. The process was to relay stories, interactions and personal impressions of Baengnyeong-do between Emma as the 'teller' and Will as the 'listener' and translate these ideas into a visual journal, presented as an animation.
'The Whistle-Stop Diaries' is a reflection of first hand encounters with the island's communities, landscape features and environmental characteristics with a focus on dialogue and exchange with the people of Baengyneong-do.
The animation was showcased as part of Emma's project titled, 'Tales from Blue Truck Island', developed during the 'IAP:Baengnyeong-do Peace Arts Residency 2013' and exhibited at Incheon Art Platform, South Korea May-June 2013."

Animator: Will Adams.
www.willdotadams.com

Original soundtrack by:
Sandy Martin & Matt Bradley.
Soundbook Studios.
www.soundbookstudios.com

This was such an awesome project to work on...and of course it also shows many of the special memories I have from Baengnyeong-do alongside some of the special people that I met there....from the woman snacking on the mountain herbs in the garden to the nun in her little, yellow bus and my mate with his sparkling golden Marines ring!!!
You can see more of Will's work on his website: www.willdotadams.co.uk
Don't forget if you are around Seoul or Incheon you can also go and watch the animation screening in Hall H at Incheon Art Platform until the 30th June 2013!!! 
Hope you enjoy!!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxx

Exhibition at Incheon Art Platform!!!

Yikesss!! 
Where does the time go?!?! Got a few bits and pieces that I need to whip up on the blog but, this past couple of weeks has just flown by and things have been so busy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So last week my solo exhibition opened at 'Incheon Art Platform' which was really exciting as I have been working in preparation for this over the past few months! My exhibition is called 'Tales from Blue Truck Island' and it will be running May 28th 2013-June 30th 2013 in Building H at Incheon Art Platform, South Korea. The exhibition features several aspects of my project that were developed during my time as artist in residence with the 'IAP: Baengnyeong-do Peace Arts Residency'.

Showing at the exhibition are the series of images of the wearable art works produced in collaboration with Seoul based photographer, Jessica Berggrun, and also screening is the animation collaboration titled, 'The Whistle-Stop Diaries', developed with animator, Will Adams. Also exhibited is some of the photographic documentation of the interactive elements of my project conducted with the community on Baengnyeong Island. 
I will be whipping out a separate post all about the magical animation and it's themes....but for now here are a few images from the current exhibition....if you happen to be in Seoul then please pop in and check it out, it's open 9am-6pm daily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxxx

'Tales from Blue Truck Island'

Oohhh Hiya!!!

Thought I would share the results of my latest collection produced during my residency with Incheon Art Platform, here in South Korea! As I've mentioned (about a million times!), I have been based here for the past 3 months working between Baengnyeong-do, Incheon and Seoul working on my new series of wearable art works and developing a whole load of field research which has included teaching textile workshops, collaborating on an animation and working with creatives based here on various photoshoots!

My new work is titled 'Tales from Blue Truck Island' and is based upon the themes of cultural identity and community interaction with the residents and visual aesthetics of Baengnyeong Island.... You can find the full information and details about the project and it's influences on my website by clicking HERE!!!

I've loved working on this project, it gave me a whole load of new inspiration from places that had I not been working on this artist residency, I probably would never have got to experience, IN MY LIFE! The final results of the 'Tales from Blue Truck Island' include the series of wearable art works, a photography collaboration and an animation.... the animation is coming soon so keep your eyes peeled!!! And tomorrow my exhibition here in Korea opens...so I will be also updating on that!!!

So the images were produced in collaboration with the super talented, Seoul based photographer, Jessica Berggrun and a wonderful team of magical people!

I will leave you with a select few images from the project and you can see the full series of photography and read all about the project HERE!!!!!! 

Image Credits:

Photographer:Jessica Berggrun.

Make Up Artist: Natalia Che.

Models: Sera Haith & Correen Bo.

Assistant: Sarah Kim.

Catch you laterzzzz!!!

Love & Sparkles,

Emma xxx

Temples, Balloons and Sweet Potato Stuff!

Good Morning from Koreaaaa!!!
Hiya! Just a quick one as there isn't really any juicy gossip today~just a few colourful photos!! So my time this past week has been mainly focused on wrapping up all of my projects here and working in preparation for my exhibition that will be opening shortly!

I don't have much time left in wonderful Korea so I've been squeezing in a few special sights and sampling as many yummy sweet potato products as possible! I'm obsessed with these sweet potato options...steam sweet potato cake...sweet potato latte...sweet potato ice cream...sweet potato cream cake...sweet potato candy....so many things to try!LOVE THEM!!!!
The other day I went for a lurk around Gangnam for the first time and I also paid a visit to the beautiful Bongeunsa Temple which was magical...bizarre as you have all of the curly, colourful temples and then a whole load of skyscrapers in the background! We are still at the end of the Lotus Festival here so this temple also still has all of the lanterns up which is a really awesome sight to see! I also sneaked in a final visit to wonderful Wolmi Island to have a last bit of candyfloss!!!!!!The weather here has been amazing this past week...a couple of cheeky 30 degrees thrown in!!YES PLEASE!
Ok so it's back to the grind so I will leave you with a few photos from recent adventures!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma xxxx

Shooting in Suwon!!!!!!!!!

Helllooo from Sunny Korea!!!!!!!!!
So at the weekend I was working on another collaboration here in S.K with a wonderfully talented team on a photoshoot in the nearby city of Suwon!

It was pretty exciting to get to see another area of the country and I also experienced my first encounter with Korean buses which was fun~ especially when there are coffee and donuts involved!!!! So our location was the 'Korean Folk Village' which was really awesome to see as my work here is very closely linked to Korean heritage and culture so it was great to work with a backdrop that is so specific and of course massively different to what I am used to in the UK!

The village is amazing with a tonne of traditional structures, ceremonial performances, artifacts and sets and the whole place is surrounded by super green forests so it was a really cool location to shoot at!!! Such a fun day working with a wonderful bunch of creative people...so keep an eye out for the upcoming images of our collaboration....
Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxx

 

Mountains, Love-Locks and Lanterns!!!

Ooooh Hello from Lantern Land!!!!
So today was one of those days where there was a tonne of stuff to do and it all happened to be mega spaced out which turned out to be a winner for me as it meant I had a bit of time to kill in between meetings!!! Of course this meant there was an opportunity for an adventure!!!

There is still so much of Seoul that I'm still yet to see, mainly because my project takes up the biggest chunk of my time and also because it seems that most of my activities are based around only a couple of areas!! So today I had an appointment in Myeong-Dong and afterwards I spotted Namsan Mountain twinkling in the distance... so of course what else was there to do apart from decide to climb a mountain just as the temperature was peaking at 28 degrees!!! eeessshhhh!!! It was a SCORCHER...should have worn suncream!!!!
It was so lovely.... bizarre that you have all of the city stuff going on, then plonked right in the middle is a beautiful mountain all green and GLORIOUSSS!!! I mean yes, it's a mountain but, it's not exactly a hardcore hike...there were girls walking it in heels and 90 year old women getting involved...but either way...I'm not really accustomed to 'climbing mountains' so it was quite strenuous in these TROPICALLLLLLL temperatures and carrying a million bags, hefty cameras and allsorts!!!!

The views over Seoul were AMAZINGGG! It's such a vast, city and I love how it's surrounded by mountains...so yeah the scenery was totally worth the 'hike'!!! At the top of Namsan is Seoul Tower and the viewing platform is COVERED with 'Love-Locks' with people's messages written on...actually I've never seen so many of them in my life?!?! This whole padlock craze seems to be popping up all over the place these days, but they've taken it to a whole new level here..... soooo many and lots of magical colours so that was pretty awesome!!

Later in the day I had some stuff to do around Insadong which meant I had to rock by Jogyesa Temple.... I was lucky enough to catch some of the lanterns from the Lotus Festival.... at the weekend they held the big annual festival, with parades and allsorts going on and sadly I had to give it a miss as I was shooting over the weekend....so I'm soooo HAPPY that I got to get a peep of some of the lanterns before they wrap it all up!!!! 

Alright....so that's all for now...I'm off to tend to my ONE sunburnt arm and catch some ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!
I'll leave you with a few photos!!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxxx

Sunshine in Seoul!!!

Ooooh Hiya!!!!
So this past week since returning to the mainland...things have been outrageously busy....strange to go from quiet island life back to the mayhem of the city~ really bizarre to go from seeing more starfish than humans to being squashed like a sardine on the Seoul subway during rush hour!!! It's really exciting to be back as there is a lot going on with my project etc... the countryside was awesome but, naturally I missed all of the plastic, neon and noise of the city!!

I'm now at the stage in my project where everything is coming together so it's exciting to be sneaking closer to the final result of my research and work here! Over the past week I was prepping for a collaboration that I was working on with a Seoul based creative team...which I've been super excited about for weeks and weeks!!! At the weekend I did a photoshoot of my new wearable art works that I've been developing here with a really AWESOME crew which was so much fun! I was really looking forward to working with some creatives here in the city as it's always amazing to link up with new people in new places!!!! So watch this space for the images from our collaboration!!!!

So basically all the finishing of sewing, meetings, location scouting, final prep work blah blah blah etc has taken over my life since I returned from  Baengnyeong-do... so aside from that, I don't have too much juicy gossip right now! I've been mainly back and forth between my base at Incheon Art Platform and town like a yo-yo... of course this means I get to take a zillion colourful photos en route...and it also means that I am within easy reach of amazinggg vegan food from 'Loving Hut' and the likes!!!
Also my cute sock obsession has come back to haunt me... after the whole Japan scenario when I ended up buying 27 pairs, I vowed not to go so excessive in future...but, over the past couple of days I've ended up racking up a pretty substantial collection again... I was planning on calling it quits until I spotted a particularly glorious pair of UNICORN SOCKS today!!! Obviously I couldn't say NO!!!

The first thing I noticed when I got back was how different the place looks in Spring...when I left for the island in March it was super cold and all of the trees looked brown and dead....so nice to come back to lovely warm weather and colourful flowers EVERYWHERE! I was also mega happy to catch the cherry blossoms here aswell!!! In other news I finally had some pizza here in Korea!! ( well, aside from my own attempt with flour, water and a frying pan) Last night we found a cute, little Italian place so after almost 3 months, the pizza was the biggest treat EVER!!! Strangest thing about the meal was they served us pink pickles and bread with STRAWBERRY JAM for starters!!!!!!
Alright...so bedtime is definitely calling...so I shall leave you with a few photos!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma xxxx