As usual, we painted murals today, but today was quite special in the sense that we had more interaction with the villagers than usual. While we were painting the walls, a few villagers passed by, with a child. The child told us that our map was wrong, and kindly corrected it for us.๐ Meanwhile, we got a cool picture.
Also, we had some discussions with the elders regarding the design they wanted. They told us that they wanted the signposts to be repainted, which I was also considering. They also asked us if we could paint the sign on the walls, as the vinyl coating on them were wearing off. I replied that we could definetly do so. However, one obstacle is that they were reluctant about incorporating junk art into the design. I believe this to be somewhat similar to a generation gap; to a generation that enjoyed nationwide economic prosperity and had a glut of new products, junk art seems ever more appealing and fascinating. On the other hand, to a generation that lived through the poorest times in Koreaโs history, it is understandable that junk art would be quite hard to be perceived as art. Also, Jeju island is known for its, as all islands are, extreme frequency of typhoons. Junk art might fly away at the frightening speed of wind.
Keeping all of these concerns in mind, I thought that junk art that has a humorous or cute side to it would be a good middle ground. For instance, one could crumple a can and use it as a choir, as in the picture below. Such design would be novel to both the older and younger generations, as it is surprising that waste could be used in such a way. On the other hand, there is also the kind of junk art that is created from randomly placing junk, as the picture below. These, if placed properly, are good photo zones and are appealing to the public. However, they might be viewed negatively by older generations or residents.
Todayโs session posed a very difficult yet important question to answer.
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