The last days of the Cherry Blossoms.

I've been quite tired lately.  Not that I have been doing much, but just from a small case of insomnia and general stress of being in a country that apparently I can't adjust to as well as I used to.  I've been spending my days going to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays and on all the other days either lazing around at home or occasionally going out with my mother.

These trips have so far been the excitement of my life.  And recently, I went to a place called the Anyang-yuwŏnji‎ or the Anyang Public Art Park.  I took a few photos there that I have already uploaded on facebook, but I thought I might just talk about it a little here because it was such a nice place.  This park is currently the venue of the APAP, Anyang Public Art Project, where they showcased different pieces of art through different media (generally on a large scale.) like statues, architecture and gigantic plastic flowers.  It in some ways reminded me of the attempt HamiltON made to become artistic through the makeover of Garden Place and attempts to showcase art and music whenever they could.  In all honesty, in Hamilton at least, this attempt didn't impress me in the least.  Especially when I was trying to have a nice sit-down with one of my friends, eating some food and I was accosted by a man and a woman dressed as garden gnomes who kept asking me ridiculous questions.  I suppose that is the freedom of art, it can be shown in any form and figure.  But to me, I'd like to think that not all things weird and bizzare is art and not all things artistic is weird and bizzare.  I think I prefer the less in-your-face type of art that you don't have to search and search for the metaphor or meaning that it represents.

But that belief, I probably shouldn't press upon others since it's all about personal opinion after all.  What might not seem like art to me, might be beautiful and artistic to somebody else.

Anyway, the point I was trying to get to when I went on this small rant about my dissapointment of HamiltON, was that in this case, even if the gigantic plastic flowers aren't quite to my taste, is that this art project did bring something nice to that area.  My mother told me that beforehand, that place was dirty, undeveloped and almost reaching the standards of a rubbish tip.  But through this revival that they did in order to create an outdoor art space, they also restored the beauty of the area through lovely footpaths and the gradual clean up of the stream and surrounding trees.  And the result is a lovely area for relaxation, next to a mountain filled with cosy restaurants and cafes.