| An exciting e-mail arrives from Neda Ulaby, Cultural Desk, National Public Radio in Washington: Dear John Held, National Public Radio reporter Lynn Neary is putting together a short piece on what the mail means to us, and she was hoping to speak to people who could talk about how mail is significant in their life. If you might be interested in talking about the mail, about mail art, and what happens when something as ordinary and central as the mail starts to become a scary thing, please give Lynn a call. Many thanks! Neda Ulaby Cultural Desk National Public Radio Give gifts of rubber stamp books, perforated papers and a rubber stamp (Fluxus/Pacific Rim) to Jang Eun Cheon, who in turn presents me a hand carved stone chop with the image of an artistamp. Give large rubber stamped handmade paper sheet to Young Jay Lee. Presents also to the two young women of the Foundation staff, who have acted as hostesses at the show for the duration of its run. Lunch at 1:00 PM in Folk Tourism Village restaurant. Young tells me of a massacre that occurred on Jeju Island on April 3, 1948, when 80,000 independence seeking islanders were killed by mainland Korean troops supported by American soldiers. Young Jay Lee, Cheon, Mia Spiral and myself go to the Sejong Gallery, one of three commercial galleries on Jeju, to see a group show, which includes the work of Jang Eun Cheol. He is showing about twenty envelopes with his artistamp chops, that have been sent through the mail and returned. I buy two of them. Michael Hernandez de Luna, who had been at the opening two evenings previous, purchased four. Jang Eun Cheol also shows stacks of his artistamp sheets tied by ribbons. A nice sculptural work. Go to Cultural Foundation to make call to National Public Radio. Leave message on the answering machine of Neda Ulaby, mentioning that I was in Jeju Island helping to organize a mail art show on the theme, "Peace Island," supported by the Jeju Cultural and Art Foundation. That Mail Artists from six countries were here from Europe, the Americas and Asia. That mail and mail art have been important to me since I discovered the medium in 1976. That mail art was an important and effective medium for Eastern European and Western artists to connect during the Cold War. And there has never been a strong presence of mail art in the Middle East, indicating that a lack of communication is a barrier to greater understanding. Perhaps mail art can play a role in greater cultural communication if it is introduced into the Middle East. Call Korean Air to confirm tomorrow's flight. Back to exhibition space. Stamp out more memo pad compositions for school children. The Foundation's Chairman is there. Jeju Mail Art Show 2001 ends. Break down the exhibition at 4:00 PM. Take Johnson works and mail art catalogs I had brought to be displayed. Chairman presents me with a cloth silk-screen banner of the show that hung just outside the entrance of the exhibition. Back to the hotel to pack for next day's departure. Meet artists and Foundation staff at 6:00 PM at the Folk Tourism Village. Introduced to a friend of Young Jay Lee, Seung-il Lee, who is the Branch Chief of the LG credit card company of Korea. He is a possible sponsor for a similar Mail Art show next year. While reading guide books on Jeju, I noticed that one of the food specialties of the Island is pheasant. I had requested sampling this, and Young Jay Lee has arranged for us to go to a restaurant specializing in pheasant. We go to the restaurant with Sordi, Spiral and Snak-y, the last remaining foreign artists; as well as Young Jay Lee, Ki-Ho Park, Jang Eun Cheon, the Secretary-General, and Seung-il Lee. This is the best meal of the whole trip! Side dishes are first brought out: kimchi, turnip, marinated onion, and bing-ttok, a buckweat cake filled with radish, said to be good for the recovery of mothers having just given birth. A large hot pot is brought out and cabbage, spinach, mushrooms and scallions are arranged in it to boil. Then a large platter of finely sliced pheasant comes to the table. The slices are put into the boiling broth, and the pinkish coloring turns white when cooked. They are taken out by chop sticks, dipped in a sauce (whose ingredients are a secret recipe of the restaurant), and eaten. Delicious! When the sliced pheasant is finished, the bones of the bird are added to the broth, along with special buckwheat noodles, which resemble the entrails of the bird. This is scooped out into bowls as soup. Back to Alps Hotel for coffee. Snak-y's Chinese acrobat friend joins us. Afterwards the foreign artists, who are all leaving tomorrow, say their good-byes to Young Jay Lee, Ki-Ho Park, Jang Eun Cheol. Ki-Ho kisses my hand. I have grown to love my new Korean friends. They have treated me with kindness and generosity throughout. There is a saying that, "The success of my friends, is my success." I am happy both for them and myself that the exhibition and surrounding activities appear to have gone so well. Young Jay Lee has been asked to remain with the Foundation to become a link with foreign artists. His success, is my success. Sunday, October 28, 2001: Wake up at 7:00 AM. Take the taxi from the Alps Hotel to the airport. Check in at Korean Air. Coffee. Take the 9:05 AM flight from Jeju to Gimpo Airport in Seoul. Arrive at Gimpo Airport and take ground transportation to Incheon Airport, Seoul's international airport. The ride by bus takes about twenty minutes. Arrive at Incheon Airport at 11:15 AM. Buy the first English language newspapers I've seen in the last three weeks. Go to a restaurant to eat and read the paper. I realize how little I have missed the outside world. Take the 4:20 PM flight from Incheon to San Francisco. The plane is not full, and I am able to get a row to myself, which allows me to stretch out and sleep. Arrive in San Francisco at 9:30 AM, Sunday. We have crossed the International Date Line. I arrive before departing. ************ Back to Home Page |