Van Gogh Reborn!

281

The Scoundrel (1)

I snapped out of it when the chilly wind brushed against my face.

‘This can’t be real.’

I unfolded the 1,000 euros in my hand and licked my lips.

It had been a hard day.

I didn’t get a single customer all afternoon, and on my way home, I got a call saying I didn’t have to come to my night shift anymore.

“…”

I had tried to stay positive, but studying in Germany was not as smooth as I had hoped.

Being a poor student was not conducive to learning, no matter what they said.

It had been a year since I came to study at the Münster National Academy of Fine Arts.

The tuition was free, but I had to pay 800 euros per semester to attend the school.1)

The public health insurance fee was 85 euros per month.

My small studio apartment, which was only 2.5 square meters, cost me 450 euros in rent.2)

I barely spent more than 200 euros a month on living expenses, but the rent was not cheap.

Sometimes I spent more than I earned.

At least 17 million won a year.

It was a tough reality for a poor student like me, who had no money to spare.

I worked hard, painting portraits in the afternoon and working at a pub at night, but I could barely pay the rent, let alone save up.

I could have breathed easier if I worked more hours, but then there would be no point in coming all the way to Germany to study.

To make matters worse, I lost the place where I could work part-time, and I was slowly getting worn out by the bleak reality.

‘He was cool.’

I thought of Henri Matisse, who was sitting arrogantly next to me, as I walked.

The man who walked his own path and became a world-famous painter looked very stubborn.

‘And he was cute.’

The same went for Ko Hun, who was sitting next to him.

The boy who knew how to share love even after going through a hard time reached out his warm hand to me, even outside the canvas.

I chuckled as I brushed my teeth in the communal shower room.

I couldn’t believe the magical thing that happened tonight.

‘I don’t have to worry about the rent for a while.’

‘Why did they come to Münster? Oh, the Münster Sculpture Project. I’m jealous.’

‘…Should I buy some gochujang?’

With some extra money, I felt relieved and thought of the spicy pork rice bowl that I had been craving.

It was not easy to find ingredients like gochujang, red pepper powder, and soy sauce in Münster, where there was no Korean market. And the Korean restaurant that was there was only good in name, catering to the locals.

There was a merchant who sold food items like gochujang to the students who missed Korean food, but he only came to the dormitory once a week.

Of course, it was more expensive than buying it in Korea, so I gave up on it a long time ago.

‘Whatever.’

I had more options with the extra money.

I could buy it online and have it shipped overseas, even if the shipping fee was high. Or I could buy it from the merchant who came to the dormitory, even if it was a bit pricey.

“Hmm hmm.”

I was in a good mood as I finished showering and returned to my room.

I turned on my computer and looked for overseas shipping options.

My phone vibrated as I was doing that.

I got an email alert and logged into my email account on my computer.

“Wow.”

It was an email from Bang Tae-ho, the commissioner of the Fire and Water joint exhibition hall at the 2030 Venice Biennale.

Subject: Venice Biennale National Pavilion Document Screening Result Notification

Content: Greetings, artist Ma Eun-chan.

I am Bang Tae-ho, the commissioner of the France-Korea joint exhibition hall at the 2030 Venice Biennale.

Thank you for applying to the France-Korea joint exhibition hall, and congratulations on passing the document screening.

Here is the schedule for the next step.

Interview date: Monday, October 15, 2029, 11 a.m. (Please let us know if you can attend, as there are many interviewees).

Interview location: Seoul, Yongsan-gu, Hangang-daero XX, France-Korea joint exhibition hall interview room (There will be a guide staff in the building lounge).

Interview content: You will be asked to explain your portfolio and answer some questions. Please prepare a presentation of about 5 minutes on what kind of work you will show at the Venice Biennale National Pavilion.

Interview attire: Casual (Slacks, knit, shirt, no tie are all acceptable).

*Please reply by email by the 12th to confirm your attendance.

*If you do not reply, you may be excluded from the interview.

“What a day!”

It was an exhibition that every aspiring artist applied for.

Having a record of exhibiting at the Biennale, the world’s highest authority, would be a great boost for my future activities.

As proof of that, the competition rate was over 2200:1.

Even though it was just passing the document screening, I was thrilled to hear that I could compete with the senior artists who seemed like shooting stars.

Ma Eun-chan checked the interview details and wondered what kind of presentation he should prepare, then chuckled.

“I can’t go anyway.”

He knew well that the interview place was in Korea. He couldn’t afford to pay for the round-trip airfare to take the interview.

Passing the document screening meant that the commissioner recognized his portfolio, and he was satisfied enough with that.

“…”

Two 500-euro bills that Arsen gave him came into Ma Eun-chan’s sight.

If he looked for the cheapest flight, he would have enough money to go and come back.

Whether to spend a month’s rent to go for the interview, or to look for something else in that time.

He didn’t worry for long.

It was as if the miracle of tonight happened for him to go for the interview.

“I’m really lucky.”

“Today, you’re going to draw what you want to be.”

The instructor from the city hall gave the children an assignment.

Thanks to the Paris city hall providing a place, he could play with the children.

His work at the Place de la Concorde and the Beaugrenelle shopping mall received a good response.

“I want to draw a dinosaur.”

“Do you want to be a dinosaur?”

“Yeah. A really big dinosaur.”

“Tyrannosaurus?”

“Bigger than that.”

Watching the children play together, he felt warm in his heart, but he also felt anxious about the submission deadline that was approaching.

“Can I stay like this?”

Kim Ji-woo, who followed him for an interview, seemed to read his mind and asked.

“Just for a while. I’m going to meet Marso later and have a meeting.”

Kim Ji-woo nodded and sat next to him.

“It doesn’t seem easy to come up with a good idea. I can see you’re struggling too.”

He was right.

“How do you do it every time?”

“I don’t know.”

He answered, watching the children run and chatter while drawing.

“I don’t always have a good idea. Especially in this case.”

He was drawing non-stop, but he still hadn’t come up with a concept for the works to be submitted to the Venice Biennale and the Münster Sculpture Project.

“Then what do you do?”

“I look a lot, think a lot, and draw a lot. And if that doesn’t work, I just stay still without thinking.”

“Are you a genius?”

He shook his head.

“I never thought I was better than anyone else. If I were a genius, wouldn’t I be able to give an answer to anything easily?”

“Hmm. It depends on the criteria, I guess.”

That was also true.

"Why. There’s a saying that genius is made of 99 percent effort and 1 percent inspiration."3)

“Is there such a saying?”

“It’s something a guy named Edison said.”

I don’t know what he does.

“I think effort is more important.”

“Why?”

“Because there is no artwork born without effort.”

All the people who were called geniuses turned out to be tremendous hard workers.

Manet and Monet.

Klimt and Matisse, Picasso too.

“I want to be a firefighter.”

“Cool. I want to be a house builder.”

“What kind of house?”

“A house that scolds thieves when they come in.”

The children were talking and growing their dreams.

Maybe if that child keeps having the inspiration to be a firefighter and keeps working hard for it, he will surely be a great firefighter in 20 years.

“Ah.”

I had a good idea.

“Huh?”

“I’ll be right back.”

He went outside and contacted Marso, who sent him a car right away.

He organized his thoughts on the way to Marso’s mansion.

What would be the best thing to fit in with the city of Münster and its people?

It was a question that I had no idea how to answer, since I had never lived there.

Especially since I was recently obsessed with René Magritte and wanted to create a work that applied his ‘making strange’ technique, I had to struggle between the Münster Sculpture Project and my personal taste.

“Marso!”

As I opened the door, Marso turned his head.

His beard was scruffy.

It was a sign that he had been working and worrying for several nights, since he was usually very neat.

He probably hadn’t decided what to submit for the Venice Biennale and the Münster Sculpture Project.

“What’s the fuss as soon as you arrive?”

“Look.”

I showed him a sketch I had drawn on my tablet.

Marso frowned at the children I had drawn over the photo of the Münster City Hall.

“What is it?”

“They are children.”

“I can see that.”

Marso looked at the sketch again.

He didn’t seem to understand what I meant by drawing children in suits entering the City Hall.

He was deep in thought, and I looked for another photo.

This time, it was the Münster Fire Station.

I drew children in fire suits climbing on the fire truck, and Marso leaned in.

He should have noticed by now, I thought, and he opened his mouth.

“Are you going to use real children from Münster as models?”

“Yes.”

“…Okay.”

Marso nodded.

“Do you understand what I mean?”

“Roughly.”

I trusted that Marso would get my intention.

The City Hall and the Fire Station were places for adults.

They were places where people dealt with politics and rescued people from dangers like fire, so they were distant from children.

“Dépaysement.”

Marso agreed with my answer.

“And it’s something very Münster-like.”

“Right.”

It was fun to find new meanings through making strange, but I also wanted to make a work that suited Münster.

I wondered if there was anything related to Münster that I could think of differently, and I saw some children talking about their dreams.

“The people of Münster will like it too. And they will think again.”

“…”

“Don’t you think they will be more kind if they think of their own children working there? And it will create a sense of familiarity.”

These days, everyone is angry wherever they go.

They burst like balloons touched by a needle.

It means that they have no room in their lives, so I feel sorry for both the angry and the hurt.

But there are also people who ignore and trample on others by claiming their rights and moral superiority.

It seems to be called ‘gapjil’ in our country, but Europe is no different.

I wish they would think once.

You never know, your child might be in the place of the person you are tormenting.

“Maybe they will be more careful if they think that our children will work here when they grow up.”

I also hoped it would be a warning to those who work unscrupulously.

They might find out someday that their children know what they did wrong.

“And it will be a good memory for the parents and the children.”

It would also be a great story to tell if their once-in-a-lifetime experience was exhibited in one corner of Münster.

The best thing to match Münster was the people who lived there, so it also matched the purpose of the Münster Sculpture Project.

And it was in line with my personal wish.

“How is it?”

Marso looked me in the eye.

“…Not bad.”

“Then shall we do it together?”

We had agreed to cooperate and complete it if one of us came up with a good idea.

Marso nodded reluctantly.

1)There is no tuition fee for German universities, but you have to pay for transportation, legal support services, student council, school construction, bike rental, administrative agency operation, etc. that you can use for one semester.

*The amounts introduced in the text are based on the inflation rate predicted by applying the amounts between 2015 and 2020.

2)Compared to France and the UK, the rent in Germany is relatively cheap.

3)*Inspiration, as Edison said, can be interpreted as motivation in the context, and therefore the sentence “What it boils down to is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” can be understood as a statement that it is important to work hard with motivation.

*There is a possibility of misunderstanding in the interpretation that effort is useless without inspiration or that effort is more important.