This third part is actually my second visit to the Incheon Global Fair and Festival – see part 1 and part 2 of my first visit.

The Incheon Global Fair and Festival continues to impress, even on the second trip. Again it’s essentially impossible to see it all in one day; even after the second day there are still unseen areas. I think I covered all the best spots however, and can definitely say I’ve taken more pictures at this one event than at any other Destination thus far in Korea.

Because some mothers are more concerned about their children’s clothing get wet and not their shoes!

One area I didn’t get to see last time – the 1st ever Incheon International Digital Art Festival.

“Silent Pollen-Blue” by Kim, Byeongho. You could hear some sounds not unlike the crashing of waves, but the visual nature was more interesting personally.

bit.flow, by Julias Popp – according to the sign, “a visual and conceptual representation of a Greek myth…[where d]ozens of tiny pieces of red thread combine in the work to form a chaos of information.” Looked more like an odd ant farm or the tubes while donating blood.

One of the more interesting exhibits – dubbed “AutoGene”, a series of eight umbrellas would open and close automatically according to the program and the classic song “Singing in the Rain”. A way of showing “seemingly mundane objects…transformed into animated objects.”

‘SoniColumn’ by Mok, Jinyo. Think of it as a large-scale music box – touch the cylinder to activate a given sound, then crank the handle to turn the cylinder and produce sound.

“Snow White on the Table” by Seo, Hyojung. Move the pieces from the Snow White fairy tale to touch each other and watch the animation on the screen.

“Spacequatica” by The Sancho Plan. Another favorite to watch – take electronic drum pads and hook them up to a cartoon-like world. The characters would move to the beat of the drums – eyes getting larger, blowfish getting larger, and so on.

“Contingent Rule’ by Mioon. According to the sign, the exhibit “shows the growth and extinction of trees using the environment-related stock data in [the] stock market”. Um, yeah…. Look closely at the glowing figures inside trees – those are letters – and don’t forget about the earth in the background.

“Videogrid”, by Ross Phillips. Consider this the meaning of interactive media – in a given framework, see what other people have created, and have your chance to add to the work itself. Each screen of the 5×5 grid shows exactly one second of looped footage, recorded by a different person or group. That’s a pretty short time, so simple movements recorded better than grandiose ones.

[HERE][NOW], by Marek Walczak, Rory Solomon, Jakub Segen, and Johanna Kindvall. It’s supposed to picture web installation structures, drawing “comparisons between technological progress and geographic space.” Very abstract – but very nice.

“Untitled” by Lee, Jangwon. If that looks like a bunch of CD-ROM drives arranged around a central sphere, you win a gold star. The other sphere (near the girl with the white shirt) is used as a ‘sensory organ’ – touch the buttons around the sphere to open and close the drives.

“Device for Process C” by Choi, Byoungil. The best optical illusion I’ve seen in awhile. At first glance, it looks like a paper carton of Seoul Milk has exploded onto an otherwise white background. That shiny figure in the middle, however, is a mirror in the shape of a milk carton. Stand in the right spot – and at the right height – and see mirror reflect the different sides of the milk cartons on the wall.

“Noise Becomes Music” by Lee, Mijin. Playing with light and dimensions while testing the abilities of a single projector – the two walls and the floor pictured something different on them. This won 3rd prize in the INDAF International Contest.

108 Buddhas with 108 faces modeled after the artist’s face. The number 108 describes the torments of mankind in Buddhism – thus the reason Buddhist monks bow 108 times.

As a whole, the museum is very abstract, but interesting.

A competition to maneuver a truck around the track – no idea if the Average Joe could enter, since I didn’t stick around too long.

Entering the World Culture area, an area I breezed through last time. Enter the authentic African souvenirs, one of the few booths actually staffed by people from the home country. Prices seemed somewhat reasonable, although I had no need to purchase a tall thin man…

Some Hindi souvenirs – including a few statues of those couples trying out some Kama Sutra poses. Sorry if they’re a little hidden (I do try to keep this blog SFW!)

Some Native American tepees, complete with the not-so-Native-American souvenir seller.

If only I had the clothes to go with this hat… Pimp daddies of the world, watch out… Check out the World Culture street / area if you’re needing souvenirs.

Just like my last trip, the parade became a more non-moving performance after awhile. I covered that pretty well last time.

Yes, that Tatooine from Star Wars fame is modeled after a real-world place – in this case, Tunisia. While I can’t imagine that being the only reason to tour the area, it certainly is worth mentioning.

Off to another area I didn’t have the time to explore: the Areum Byul-yi Fun Park. This was the amusement park area:

Paddleboat using your arms – no more flabby arms for these kids.

The most interesting part of the amusement park. Put yourself in a giant inflatable ball – about 2.5 meters (7 1/2 feet) in diameter, then bounce around as you might on a moonwalk. These two foreigners (one of only 10 paying foreigners seen the entire day) were especially fun to watch as they bounced around, fell down, and otherwise made the crowd laugh.

Bumper cars on batteries – no more crackling electrical sparks or odd smells here.

Your fairly typical Viking boat – always fun to hear the little girls in the back row scream. Really.

Tickets cost 2,500 won each for most rides; 5,000 won for the inflated ball event and a couple others.

Going back through the flower garden a second time:

Me getting fancy with the macro settings – just like shooting fish in a barrel here.

Several intriguing statues remind you that the average Korean may be more comfortable with, er, anatomical displays, on statues than in real life. Why? No clue.

There is plenty to see outside of the fair itself, including a large, mostly Korean food court built on what will be Incheon Central Park.

A very majestic bridge near the subway station – going across the bridge doesn’t lead to anything interesting, but it is a nice view on what will be a nice park… eventually…

A huge building overlooking Incheon’s skyline – while not yet completed on the inside, a sign nearby does suggest it’ll be finished next spring.

As before, the Incheon Fair and Festival is highly worth visiting. While some sights are rather self-promoting, the day as a whole will be well-spent seeing any number of cultural interests. If you go, count how many foreigners you see – I counted 11 during my first trip and 10 on this trip.