Hangul Exhibition @ Walker Museum

Hangul Exhibition at Walker Museum

An interesting typography exhibition called “Hangul” is now held in the Walker Hall museum. Bought to us by two Korean designers, Hyunju Lee and Phil Choo, the exhibition displays their contemporary manipulation of the Korean Hangul characters, a phonetic alphabet organized in syllabic block in mid-fifteen century. These two great men have sure shown everyone a new aspect of contemporary typography.

Ileona (Stand Up), Phil Choo, 2009
Digital Printing on Archival Linen Cotton Canvas Paper

At the entry of the exhibition, this interesting Korean letter-like typographic design sure grabs people’s attention. With some letters standing up from the background, it immediately gives a three dimensional effect. The shadows also reinforced the feeling of the letters are raising up perpendicularly from the rest of the letters that are lying down. It is almost as if urging the audiences to know the importance of meaning of these standing up letters. The eager of this message is so strong that the audiences would be instantly accepted.

After reading its caption, I was cheerful that my feeling was correct towards as how I viewed this design. This digital printing (on canvas) is a lyric called “Ileona” meaning “Stand Up”. Phil gives the part of song where says “Stand up like spring sprouts and try it again” a visual image to the audiences. The message of this design manipulated by Phil is so successfully delivered. Even for the ones like me who don’t know Korean could understand the emphasized importance of the part of the message. Its abnormal presentation of how ones could read a letter is absolutely an unique design and grabs its deserved attention.

Left: Haha Hoho, Hyunju Lee, 2009, Inkjet Print on Canvas
Right: Huh Huk, yunju Lee, 2009, Inkjet Pring on Canvas

These two works of inkjet print on canvas by Lee are opted to be viewed as in a pair. The right is called “Huh Huk.” Using the character describing the sounds of sobbing, Lee presents the same character repeatedly in different sizes and colors on a series of lines that look like a musical key. Although there are variations in colors and sizes of the lines and character, the variations in color are rather strict in cold colors, and, in size are relatively the same. And if this is a musical key, the tempo seems like slowed by the middle thick horizontal greenish line. It almost looks as if a stabilizer bar that keeps everything from bouncing around.

As oppose to Huh Huk, the left one, called “Haha Hoho”, is much more alive. Noticeably, the colors are primarily bright red and warm, though some twitters of green appear to stir up the party. Even though the characters used here are appearing to be the same as Huh Huk, its size variation is much more bolder. The same format of “musical-key-lines” is having a smile curve. Everything is working in combination to deliver a cheerful presentation. And of course, “Haha Hoho” is using the character describing the sounds of laughter.

Together as side by side, these two works are showing a dramatic opposition and conflict: one is showing a holiday sense of joyfulness; another is, however, almost as if playing a melody of a loved one’s departure. Maybe the message of Huh Huk is more successfully presented than Haha Hoho, audiences like myself tend to focus more attention on Huh Huk. However, if one looks at Huh Huk by itself, it is rather boring. Lee has brought great success of the two conflicting feelings presented in his works by putting them next to each other.