IAM/ STAR CROSSED TATTOO

Ollie Walker is a talented friend of mine who co-started the wicked website AWEH, an online portal connecting you to cool creatives from around the world.  Since Ollie resides in Seoul but is South African, much of the content that he creates and curates for AWEH is based on people of interest who are living in Africa and Asia - two highly undervalued continents when it comes to worldwide recognition of their contemporary art scenes.  

With the advent of the internet - and therefore sites like AWEH, Durban is Yours and (hopefully) Chincha - the global, English-speaking audience is recognising that worthwhile art is not limited to European and American cities.

This video by AWEH has just been released, and is part of a new collaboration with South African clothing company IAM.  The video follows two SA tattooists Rich Phipson and Ross Turpin, who own a studio in Hong Kong called Star Crossed Tattoo.  It follows their mission as tattooists and shows some awesome shots of the tattooing process, as well as the pair's intensely unusual designs.

If you're ever in the Hong Kong area (come to Asia, it's amazing), you should definitely swing by the shop to see these guys in action.  I'm already planning my trip.

May in Instagram

An Americano outdoors. Trying to recreate some European vibez in my hood.

The quaint boat I had to get for my trip to Muuido, a sweet island off the west coast of Korea.

A shot of the audience absorbed in one of the films at a Future Shorts Film Festival some friends of mine put on in Gangnam, Seoul.

The river in Cheongju, the city my boyfriend lives in.

A shot of the river from another angle.

A faux vintage phone at Bar 14 in HBC, an expat village in Seoul.

A popping candy Korean ice cream and a glimpse of my friend Nick.

Suwon, the city I live in, from far away.  I chose a filter which makes it look like the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz (still one of my favourite films).

A bright green bridge in Chuncheon, North of Seoul.  This is a beautiful area.

I found these birds outside a bike shop on a dusty day.  They didn't seem to have any purpose other than as a shelf for some cardboard boxes that had been laid on top of them.

Groovy sixties style tiles at Namtaeryeong Station, slightly outside of Seoul.  I love how this feels like a futuristic shot from an old film.

Can you see the rainbow effect in the sprinklers?

The cutest coffee cup you'll ever see.

Summer clothes are finally in the shops! I've gone a little crazy with my money lately.

Meat on the BBQ. Korea has an abundance of indoor BBQ restaurants where you cook your own meat. 

Muuido at dusk.

Graffiti in Hongdae, my favourite area of Seoul.

Roses in full bloom. Summer is definitely in full swing.

BTSU

I only got introduced to this recently but I feel like I'll never get tired of it. I have nothing more poignant to say than this. 

Double Exposure

I recently introduced my boyfriend to smartphone photography apps. This was a mistake.  My entire life now feels like it's being documented in a hazy, otherworldly glow.  Every time I look in the mirror these days I'm surprised I'm still a solid entity.

UNIQLO ON CHINCHA

So, I've sort of hit the big time. My main website has it's first sponsor and it's only bloody UNIQLO. 

The ad is for a free alarm clock app which wakes you up by telling you what the forecast is for the day.  I think the Japanese must have been thinking of us Brits when they designed it, it's perfect for our weather-obsessed national constitution.

Click here to read all about it and for a link to download the app itself.

Loose Union Presents

I recently wrote a post for Chincha about Loose Union, a new record and videography company that a friend of mine and some other creatives have started up in Seoul.  The objective of Loose Union is to make live music videos of Korea-based bands, in order to capture the current Seoul music scene.

Loose Union held a launch party a couple of weeks ago where I was introduced to a friend of a friend, an event photographer from Durban, South Africa  He offered to send me some pictures (seen above) to put on Chincha.  I gladly obliged and asked if I could share them here too.  I love them - especially that last one of the sneaky tattoo.  I'm not usually a body art fan but there's something about that rose peeking out from underneath the girl's skirt.

The photographer's name is Matthew Stroud.  You can (and should) 'like' him on Facebook to stay up to date with his work.  

Here's the original post on Chincha.

Images: Matthew Stroud.

SuperColorSuper

SuperColorSuper are a small, indie booking agency with big ideas, located in Korea.  Unfortunately, because of the passivity of the prospective audience in SK when it comes to subcultural, international music, the collective are currently in dire straits financially and have warned that they may have to shut shop on organising gigs using foreign bands.

A poster for an Asobi Seksu gig, which is potentially the final international act SCS will be bringing to South Korea.


Some of my best nights out in Korea have been at events SCS have organised.  Jeffrey Lewis, Gold Panda and No Age (who I saw just last week) were all particularly impressive live, and I hope SuperColorSuper get the support they need to keep bringing incredible acts to this country.  The music scene here needs them.

  

The group made the inspirational video above as a call to arms to get the population of Korea interested in backing their collective.

If you live in Korea and want to support SCS, check out this post on their website. Scroll down for English.

Images: SuperColorSuper