Day 15: Everything is an Empty Canvas

So a small caveat before we get started today. Some of the things I highlight about Korea may not be necessarily 'specific' to just Korea, but they are specific to my Korea and the things I find charming about this place. Take this mural of an old [what I assume to be] British man from [again what I assume to be] the 19th century, enjoying a rather large glass of wine. He represents 'Wine Tree', some random wine bar in Korea, located in Shinchon. I post this picture not to talk about wine bars, because I am sure I will post a later picture of a favorite wine bar of mine, but rather to talk about street art. In Korea, probably similar to other countries, anything can be considered a blank piece of paper, a canvas, and you will often find some impressive paintings in the most obscure places. There are entire murals in tunnels under the train tracks in Shinchon and on the sides of buildings in Hongdae. Though some may find Bernard over there not all that appealing, I find it to be absolutely brilliant, given it's location next to college bars, cheap eateries, and street vendors. The idea for something like this is simply good marketing, by placing something completely out of the ordinary and obviously eye catching next to things that all look the same. I am reminded of a quote from 'Election' where Matthew Broderick attempts to explain democracy to Chris Kline: "Now say that everyday you had an apple. An apple, an apple and more apples. You probably thought that apples were pretty good, even if you got a rotten one every once in awhile. Then one day there was an orange. Now you can choose, do you want an apple or do you want an orange? That's democracy." Chris Kline, unwittingly replies, "I also like bananas." For all I know Wine Tree could be crap, but this portrait makes me want to go inside and enjoy myself with some 19th century Brits, the same way the Statue of Liberty welcomes people to America.