Un-condensed rural 2.0

'nightwall'

With day turned to night- all that remains is wall, casting shadows and projecting light in the cool autumn air of rural Korea. The earthen walls, 'tom', are labors of division (and inclusion); containing spaces of outside to be included inside. These are outside rooms to be certain.  The rise of autumn brings silence in night and in day. Contained within earthen walls- nightwalls.

Jon Jost

Image courtesy, Jon Jost

I sat down recently in Seoul with American filmaker and artist, Jon Jost. We met on the campus where I teach, at a small cafe for an exchanging introduction. He was both engaging and accessible in conversation that lasted seamlessly for two hours. His stories of life seemed opposite his films in some ways, and then again, his work as a direct projection of his own divergent 'lives' rendered the man and places behind the camera even more real- in details captured deliberately in time. Jost has made more than 60 independent films dating back to the late 1960's. 


Perhaps, known best for,  All The Vermeers in New York, his films are as much a reflection of places he has lived and experienced, as they are in deeply personal views and an obsessive craft in making. His films have been both widely celebrated around the world for their cinematic attention and perhaps equally criticized for a cadence, some find hard to follow. They are cerebral and deliberately constructed; or film as "architecture," as Jost describes. 


Jon Jost will lecture on November 25th at 1:30 pm in the department of Architecture at Konkuk University.  His lecture is titled_  Cinematic architectural space: an exploration

condenCITY_81 Seoul from above 1.3

The horizon is lost and then found in Seoul. It's serrated edge pitched against a hazy, late summer sky. For many city dwellers it is an elusive experience to be found in moments of brief visits above the 10th floor. At street level we tend to forget that vision can be free of limit.