'The Whistle-Stop Diaries' Screening in London TOMORROW!!!!

Ooohhh Hiya!!!
Just a quick one to spread the word on this tropicalllllyyy hot, summer evening that my latest collaboration with the super talented, animator of dreamzzzz Will Adams will be screening in the UK for the first time, tomorrow evening....
From Baengnyeong-do to Shoreditch, you can catch 'The Whistle-Stop Diaries' as part of 'Screen Social' 
hosted at 'The Book Club'... Check HERE to see a full run down of what's on the agenda!!! 
Doors open at 7pm/ July 10th 2013~
'The Book Club',
100 Leonard Steet. London, EC2A 4RH.

Laterzzz,
Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxxxxxxxxxxxx

'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

The Return from Baengnyeong Island!!!

Hellooo from the bright lights of the city!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So as you know I have spent the past 5 weeks in 'the wilderness'...I've been pretty vague about where I was with all of this talk of 'the countryside' etc...this was mainly because it was somewhat of a sensitive location...also in terms of my project I really wanted to maintain the emphasis on the themes that were most important to me in relation to my work which, were mainly the people, rural communities and physical aesthetics of my environment, opposed to the most common associations of the island.

Of course it's important that I do acknowledge where I've been and my reasons why, so...In short, I've been based in an art studio on Baengnyeong Island~ In textbook terms, it is one of South Korea's most isolated islands sitting only 10 miles off the North Korean coast and is only accessible by a 4 hour, 222km boat ride from the mainland. It lies just a stones throw away from the disputed maritime border, the NLL (Northern Limit Line), in the Yellow Sea and has been witness to a couple of fatal incidents in recent years. In general the island is usually associated with 2 things; it's geo-political location and the fact it is a heavily militarized base.

For me personally, living on what is essentially a frontline island, was a whole new ball game for me because I've never, ever lived in a potentially unpredictable situation before and I have never had so much exposure to military presence. To put things into perspective, if I stood about 200 yards from my house, I could physically see the N.Korean coastline (there's the photo above ~the land mass over the sea there is N.K).

It would be ridiculous for me to say that with recent tensions and news coverage that there were not times when I was absolutely terrified especially when there were media reports specific to where I was. But, on the whole, my days there were pretty 'normal' and mostly involved sewing, making lunch, writing, just basic everyday stuff...it's a peaceful and calm place and unless I saw something like a tank or walked past an emergency shelter or landmine warning signs, I would mainly forget about that side of things and just be able to enjoy the beautiful landscape, daily island life and working on my project.

To be honest the mammoth spider situation actually caused me more sleepless nights opposed to worrying about things that were out of my control. It would be naive to say that my decision to go there was not one that came without risks, but the whole experience was both massively challenging and amazing on both a personal and work-orientated level. 
So my motivation to go there was because it was an opportunity to step into the unknown as, aside from these common associations, there has previously only been minimal insight into anything else, especially the daily lives of the 5000 civilians that call Baengnyeong-do home. My direction was to basically go there and observe the opposite of these predictable influences and to create something that was entirely based on the core identity of the island, it's people and specific characteristics. I had very little experience of rural life so the chance to actually base myself within a small community where fishing and farming was the main industry was really interesting and a world away from my normal life.

My time there has provided me with endless influences that have been incredibly valuable for my art work here in South Korea....I got to see the seasons transition through end of winter into spring so the whole island changed from grey and baron into covered with green and AMAZING pink cherry blossoms!!! The natural landscape is immense and like nothing I have ever seen before...the island boasts the spectacular Dumujin rocks which was one of my favourite places to go to.

My ultimate favourite place on the island was Simcheonggak Pavilion which was a nice walk from the studio and sits atop a hill with the most awesome view across the island....it's a beautiful, colourful building that pays homage to the Korean folk tale of Simcheong. Much of the island is dedicated to it's farming industry so there are huge stretches of rice fields that seem to go on forever... as it is an island of course there are some impressive beaches, mainly Kongdol Beach and Sagot beach.... Sagot is particularly special in that it's one of only the few natural airfield beaches in the world, so previously it was used as a landing strip for planes. The sand is so dense that you can drive on it, so it was common to see buses zipping down the beach!!!

The majority of my time was spent working in the art studio, which was a little yellow house on the edge of Baengyneong's main town, Jinchon. It took some major adjustments to get used to the silence (aside from the noisy roosters!) as I'm not accustomed to being somewhere so remote. I had weird and wonderful experiences on a daily basis, from catching someone foraging for mountain herbs in my back garden, to the woman who would prune the rose bushes wearing yellow tartan trousers and a HOLOGRAPHIC sun visor!!! AMAZING!!!

A massive part in making my experiences on Baengnyeong-do so positive was down to the kindness of the local people. They were incredibly friendly in welcoming me to the island and involving me in their lives.I also really enjoyed being able to collaborate with the teachers from the local school, alongside my project, as it was a great chance to actually be able to integrate with the community. It was really important for my project to actually communicate with the islanders so that I could really understand the topics that I was researching whilst I was there. As I said, it was totally stepping into the unknown~ I didn't have a clue what to expect before going and it was actually a lot different to how I'd imagined it to be. I hadn't anticipated that it would be so vibrant and full of life, that villages would be bustling with social activities and I wasn't expecting the scenery to be as incredible as it was...so for me it was amazing to have the chance to observe this and spend this time based there. It was probably the most obscure situation that I've ever put myself in, but I'm really excited to what it has offered to my work, so all in all it's been a really awesome experience that will be impossible to ever forget!!! There will be many things that I miss about Baengnyeong-do, mainly the amazing sunsets from my back garden every night, getting to do weird stuff like ride around in police cars or blue trucks, being given free cucumbers from the lovely lady with the sparkly, gold tooth in the grocery store, seeing a zillion rainbow starfish on a daily basis and of course the wonderful people that I met~ obviously there will also be things I won't miss, namely the SUPERSIZED spiders and not being able to get extra-mature cheddar cheese!!!
Alright...so this post has turned into an essay so I shall leave you with a few photos from the island, as the clock is ticking and now I'm back in the city the deadlines for my project are stacking up, so it's time for a spot of sewing before I hit the hay!!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma xxx

Sakura and Starfish!!!

Hiyyyyaaa!!!!
I was SUPER excited to discover that virtually overnight a lot of the Sakura blossoms have opened! I've been waiting weeks for this and as it's been mega cold and Spring has taken it's time to arrive I was worried I would end up missing the cherry blossom season!!! So this week the skies are amazingly blue and the roads and rice fields are lined with pretty pink flowers!!! Such a massive change from when I first arrived in the countryside and it was bitterly cold, rainy and unbearably windy!

 One of the themes of my projects here in South Korea looks at the transition between seasons, so I'm so happy that I managed to get to see the country during this time of year! The whole town looks really different and it's such a contrast to all of the grey and brown that I've been seeing for weeks!!!

In other news I've been mainly working on wrapping up all of the sewing of the new wearable art collection that I'm developing whilst here as once I return to the city it's going to be a hardcore month in terms of the project and the collaborations that I have planned... so a few more sleepless nights on the cards I reckon!
As the weather has been nice it means I've had more of a chance to go on adventures....the beaches are especially spectacular in the sunshine....I also found a tonne of starfish....amazing colourful, HUGE ones! Actually the place is pretty much deserted a lot of the time so I probably saw more starfish than humans!!!! There have also been a couple of midnight ice cream quests which involved roaming around the countryside with a torch! Anyway, back to the sewing!!!!!!!!!!
Love and sparkles,
Emma xxx