Icinori  | Louis Vuitton Editions

0원  | 20190502  | 9782369831808

During their many trips to Seoul - they notched up no less than four long stays between 2014 and 2017 - the Icinori pair had the chance to observe the impressive alertness and brisk energy of its people, simple and determined, disciplined and hard-working, epicurean and creative. Raphael Urwiller and Mayumi Otero, the two artists behind Icinori, have cleverly succeeded in capturing the beating heart of the capital, immersing themselves in its customs and performing arts, its layers of history and chinks in everyday life. Icinori draws the many details that make up the life of the city: residents’ rhythms, the movement of the street, traders, shopping as religion in Myeong-dong, cosmetic surgery salons, street food - such as the enticing odeng, mandu, “tornado potato,” gimbap and hotteok cakes. Here we have people dancing to K-pop. In the early morning metro, the air is already heavy with the sour scent of kimchi. “Seoul is an organic city, with astonishing creative energy and visually very elegant, as seen in the powerful design, the signage, the sophisticated signs and typologies of the shapes - circles, triangles and other geometric figures. Good taste is everywhere, sometimes a bit crazy, but universal. It’s a mix of the baroque and the modern. A miracle of the ephemeral and the elegant.”

Icinori  | Little Gestalten

23,000원  | 20140508  | 9783899557183

This classic Japanese fairy tale tells the story of Issun Boshi, the tiny son of an old, long childless couple. Tiny and brave--these are the two most striking characteristics of Issun Boshi. His mother had longed to have a child for so many years that she finally added "even if it is a very small one" to her wish. When the elderly couple did in fact bear a son, he turned out to be only one inch high. He was thus called Issun Boshi, Japanese for one-inch boy. Although his parents raised him very lovingly, Issun Boshi realized one day that he would not grow any taller. He then left his home to set off on a journey to find his place in the world. Because he saw himself as a swordfighter, a samurai, he made sure to take along the right equipment: a needle was his sword, a soup bowl was his boat, and a chopstick was its rudder. As in any proper fairy tale, Issun Boshi is tested in several adventures. He handles himself so bravely that, in the end, he is rewarded with just the right princess.