Big thanks to my dear friend, Annie, for inviting me over to be a part of her art museum hopping plan today at Songwon Art Center (송원아트센터). Although, I am not such an art aficionado I have to admit that the exhibition I went through with her was super intriguing! The art center is easily accessed. All you have to do is just get off at Anguk station, enter the first street after coming out of exit no.1 (there is a McDonald place right around the corner) and go straight for 5~8 min until you reach a junction. Take the right path and go on about 2 min and there you are!

Today’s displayed exhibition is under the title of ‘The Seed of New Society’, a collaboration of British artist Asif Khan and Hyundai Motor. The art works illustrate anecdotes of Hydrogen which, according to the producers, they believe is the seed of new society. There are three major sections to browse; the Universe, Water, and Hydrogen.

Universe

At the first chamber, Universe, hundreds of small gleaming LED lamps hung in mid of black painted environment creating a three dimensional illusion of stars in the universe.

Water

Moving forward. Second section is an extensive water installation. Thousands of water droplets collide and drain out on a pure white surface forming a physical hydrogen representation. The scene was very captivating.

Hydrogen

In the last section, Reflective different sizes of spheres are demonstrated. I presumed that they represent hydrogen atoms (maybe and oxygen atoms too) after being broken down from water (from the previous section) by electricity produced from solar energy.

These are pretty much of the exhibition. To me it is very impressive in how well they bring out the brand vision into a physical space conveying the story of its technology. The event is totally free of charge. You can even get a nice little bag as a souvenir afterwards. If you happen to be in Samcheong-dong (삼청동) around this time (July~ 30th Dec 2018), the place is worth a visit.

Once you find yourself in Samcheong-dong, the area north of Jongno and east of Gyeongbokgung, you will sense that the place is occupied with tons of art galleries and museums. Even cafes here are too the fine option many Korean artists choose to present their works.

Cafe HOARD

After mesmerizing the Hydrogen exhibition, we strived for a nice cup of coffee. We then searched and found a sensational coffee place with views of Korean traditional folk houses and the museum of modern art. It is Gallery Café HOARD which the name would imply that there are art pieces to admire. I tried a cup of vanilla latte and it was not very impressive. It was quite too plain and I didn’t really sense a vanilla plus the price was a little expensive. But for all that, the vibe and ambient are great!