89. Tide
How we ebb and flow. Straight-ahead on paper; shifting between essay and film; behind the scenes of art install at Golden HOF & NY Kimchi.
It’s been unusually cold in NYC. The other night it was 15 ºF with wind chill, and my fingers developed blisters. Apparently these blights are called “chillblains,” and it blows my mind how little separates us walking fluid sacs from the universe, and how delicate the barrier.
What also blows my mind is that, even in this climate, there are signs of spring. Birds have begun waking me up, polar vortex be damned. I appreciate their fortitude (or dogged mechanics), but resent what their song heralds: the perennial recission of an hour we’ve held jealously on loan; the faster and sooner encroachment on time that, in the darkness before anyone else wakes up, has felt private and abundant.
Winter, I’ll miss you.
News
엄마 나라 | MOTHER LAND (trailer) will be screening out West in coming months.
The schedule is up for the San Diego Underground Film Festival (April, free to attend but rsvp recommended):
The lineup is also set for the American Documentary and Animation Film Festival (Palm Springs, March):
If you find yourself in San Diego or Palm Springs soon, I hope you get to check out these lovely festivals.
Studio
The past few weeks, I finished a draft of the second essay for the collection I’ve been working on, set it aside, and turned back to working on animation.
I go a little blind when I work—with words and animation alike. At a certain point, I have to let work rest so that I can review it later with fresh eyes.
I’ve been balancing writing and animating this way, treating alternating blindness as “feature not a bug,” working on one during the other’s resting period.
What’s lost is perhaps an opportunity for my own rest. I think it’s just gonna be like this for a while.
There’s a chance that this kind of creative context-switching may ultimately prove unsustainable. At least, not great for the work. There are times when momentum continues to build on, say, animation for a period of time that proves too long for the writing to sit fallow, and vice versa.
“It’s all one thing”—but it’s tricky, you know? Ideas are delicate. They need to be kept warm.
Of course, I could just be overthinking it.
In any case—I’ve been working exclusively on paper lately, trying out the new light box, making pieces based loosely on notes and sketches. Some of these pieces will eventuallly pull together into a picture.
During these explorations I got to thinking about switching to digital for pose-to-pose then back to analog again for straight-ahead, imagining the kind of texture that this might produce both visually and emotionally. It’s kind of exciting.
Also, I forgot what a pleasure it is to inbetween. Ted Wiggin, whose interview I enjoyed in the latest Edge of Frame), apparently dislikes inbetweening so much that he developed software to avoid doing it.
While it might seem tedious, I find the process meditative and soothing.
What’s actually tedious is production—cutting paper, scanning drawings, aligning scans. I could explore AI for some of this, I guess.
A 9 second experiment, with sound:
Let me leave you with an Instagram post by 24memespersecond because I felt seen and laughed so hard:
Provisions
Take in good things to make good things.
Many of these are from the New Yorker, which may have a paywall. FWIW it’s good writing and I humbly posit that $1 a week is well spent for it.
Can the Human Body Endure a Voyage to Mars? · Article (audio available)
Fascinating and horrifying effects of space travel on the human body.
An Academic’s Journey Toward Reporting · Article (audio available)
Contemplating the possibility that the “hard problem” may not exist.Kendrick Lamar’s Meta-Performance at the Super Bowl · Article (audio available)
Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’re up on the beef between Lamar and Drake. These are grown men, by the way. Doreen St. Félix’s “If a message is blaring, is it still subliminal?” draws blood, elegantly.Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words · music
The other day, a far-flung friend sent me the sixth piece in this collection. Perfect for overcast Sundays.Golden HOF & NY Kimchi · NYC gems
The newest venture from team Golden Diner opens to the public today. I was there over the weekend and it was beautiful. If you find yourself around Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, treat yourself. I particularly recommend the crudos and NY kimchi jeon downstairs. Go upstairs for round two of cocktails (the Sujeonggwa comes with a cookie!), fries, and wings. They’re @nykimchi48 and @goldenhofny on Instagram, respectively.
Installing art at Golden HOF & NY Kimchi
I was going to circle back on the theme of ebb and flow—mainly ebb—but looks like I’m going to focus on flow after all: a behind-the-scenes of the recent collab between The Korean American Artist Collective and Golden HOF & NY Kimchi.
KAAC has been in conversation with Sam Yoo, chef and owner of Golden Diner, since fall of last year.
Over the winter months, we spent time not only making art but installing it at 16 W 48th Street. Candids and plandids in the days leading up to the grand opening (which happens to be today):
My piece going up:
In the thick of install, last month:
At friends & family preview this past Saturday:
I love how different all our works are, and how differently one is called to engage with them—some making a statement from afar; some, like mine and Eunsoo’s, quietly compelling the viewer to come closer.
We speak to the diversity of our work a bit more in our exhibit description:
Hanbeon Deo (한번 더) presents unique perspectives around the notion of “one more time” by artists from the Korean American Artist Collective (KAAC), curated by Aaron Chung.
Each work in this exhibition asks what it means to remember and to repeat. History, place, and process are reimagined. Moments are infused with nostalgia that looks forward.
At Golden HOF & NY Kimchi, where classic Korean meets modern American, these works come together to express the richness and breadth of the lived Korean American experience while honoring a shared heritage.
Here’s to more. Always. Again. 짠!
Read more about each artist’s contribution and where they’re located, at goldenhof.com/bar-room and nykimchi48.com/art.
Enjoy.
Brava!
Nice to hear your thoughts on balancing writing and animating Coleen - it can be quite a challenge for sure. Glad you enjoyed my interview with Ted - thanks for the mention!