The Pop-Expression & A Glance into PAP Magazine

How do we convey ideas?

Believing that not everything can be verbalized, the concept of language is never enough for me. I have never been good at dubbing my mind anyway… When you try to narrate a memory of yours, have you ever felt that the words you are choosing from your limited vocabulary are just a very bad voiceover compared to what you experienced? That’s what I am talking about. Sometimes when there are less words, it is louder, chattier. What matters is the expression and the experience. At least, that’s what I think.

Since I think of arts as multi-perspectived experiences, arts speak more to me. Arts speak literature, films, notes and lyrics, stitches on fabric, brush strokes on paint… It is not a matter of words. It is a matter of finding the right medium to tell your story. 

As these thoughts preoccupied my mind, with my discovery of PAP Magazine, an aesthetic euphoria took over. 

PAP Magazine is a digital fashion magazine based in Milan, with editorship and creative directory of Domenico Kang. They publish daily editorials from artists all over the world with contents ranging from fashion shows to philosophical reflections.

Screen Shot 2020-11-09 at 01.22.33.png

“Based on the Asian Philosophy, ‘Moment by Moment Awareness’ demonstrates how people reach self-awareness via meditation. Focus on the story line of 3 Parts <Moment - Disorder - Awareness> represented by Media Art collaborated with fashion”


What is so unique about PAP is how they create their stories. Almost with every content, the observer is drawn into an experience. The artists -and their works- are aware of the fact that if the focus is on only one aspect of the concept, the meaning would be dull. The expression would be lacking the essence. As arts is an experience, the experience of the artist, and therefore of the viewer, would be incomplete. To this end, they blend different mediums in their artistry. When one looks at a work, from the title to photography, from the costume to makeup, the chaos of all these diverse areas tells a story in unity. The observer is absorbed into an ambiance.

Their contents are not limited to fashion photography. Although an aspect is always the style, there are the decoration and ornament, the model, a storyline, and always but always the moral of the artist. The photography is motionless, yet the observer comprehends that it presents a snapshot of the moment, of the experience of the artists, of the art work. Most of the time, the content is supported by a video, even if  the movement of the work is already established.

“URODA means both 'Goddess of Agriculture & ploughed land' in Slavic paganism, and equally translates as the word 'ugly' in the Russian language. 

This is a short performance film centred around our issue of ecological crisis; humanity’s overwhelming of the natural resources of the planet and the industrial world has affected not only the health of us and the planet but the psyche and psychology of what it means to be alive, the quality of life and how we live.”

Being a home to many young artists and their works, PAP represents the extraordinary, albeit it appeals to the most familiar experiences. When concentrated on a post, maybe one is unable to tell word by word what that theme is; however, the sense is there. That familiar feeling when you do x or y, it is there. It is in harmony with the aesthetic, proving the unspoken language of  fashion, arts, and design. Proving that the creativity appreciates the experience.

I asked how we convey ideas, giving my humble answer, the expression and the experience. Consider PAP as my evidence.

References to the art works:

Thumbnail image via: Drowsy Bloom: Photography by Kim Changjun Styling by Sim Jieun Hair & Makeup by Kim Minyoung Photography Assistant by Kim Kiwoong, Kim Yunju and Kim Taehyung Styling Assistant by Nam Yoonkyung Model by Jang Minyoung

Seasons: Photography by Nina Petko Styling by Darina Kulikova Makeup & Hair by Kate Hrustaleva Model by Anna Photography Assistant by Daria Erantseva & Anfisa Bittner Flowers by Botanica Garden Ceramic by Polina Kamardina Location by ArtKvartira

Moment by Moment Awareness: Photography & Flim by Shin Jae Lee Creative Director & Styling by Boyeon Hur Hair by Eun Hye Jo Makeup by Chakyung Park Executive Producer by Chan Hee Jung Producer by Jun Young Hwang Art Director by Han Sol Lee Media Visual Artist by Jun Hyung Park Styling Assistant by Jinhyuk Kwon Art Assistant by Ha Jung Jang & Ji Hee Choi Photography & Film Assistant by Chang Hwan Oh & Hyo Jung Son Model by Yujeong So & Yoon Lee

Intermixture: Photography & Creative Direction by Rein Kooyman Styling by Amber Aste Hair & Makeup by Xiu Yun Yu Assistant by Aristos Latrou & Laurien Doodeman Model by May Kamara from Solid Model Management

Lucid Dream: Photography by Vitaboy Styling by Maria Fuhre 3D Art by Nik Gundersen Hair by Katrine Løver Makeup by Celin Aydin Photography Assistant by Sunniva Hestenes Model by Margrethe Alida from Team Models

Beauty and Grace: Photography & Creative Directing by Joelle Grace Taylor Styling by Joelle, Grace and Tatiana Makeup & Hair by Tatiana Kazana
 Model by Grace Edward

Uroda: Direction by Vasilisa Forbes DOP by Oscar Oldershaw Styling by Vasilisa Forbes Makeup by Daisy Oldershaw AC by James Willmott Talent by Franzine Maria

Homebodies: Art Direction & Photography by Gioia Cheung Styling by Coco Chan Wing Lam Hair by Cheng Po Ki Makeup by Ruby Kh Chan Photography Assistant by Jack Hackett Model by Lucia Lau from Stage Management

Neon: Photography by An Shaoda Video Maker & Art Direction by Chiara Trimigliozzi Styling by Erica Benocci Makeup by Francesca Bechi Hair by Madia Legrottaglie Model by Maria Darts from Fabbrica Milano Management

Retrofantasia: Photography & Directing by June Hyuk Park Styling by Hye Su Jo Hair & Makeup by Hong Ju Sung Model by Bom Kim & Ye Eun Lee

Support the Seminary Co-op (Plus 3 Book Recs for Troubling Times)

I visited UChicago for the first time in June—it was the summer before my senior year of high school and I was nervous. I had no idea where I would be spending my college years.

However, when I entered the Seminary Co-op, I knew that I needed to attend UChicago—if given the opportunity. I’d been strongly considering the school for a long time, but the bookstore was a physical representation of all that I wanted from my university experience. I wanted to inhabit a community that truly cared about books; more importantly, I wanted to join a community that loved, respected, and defended the free exchange of ideas. And I wanted a place to converse about those ideas frequently.

Almost three years later, the Seminary Co-op has become just that. It’s the place I go to meet friends, to study, and to wander through the book stacks after completing particularly stressful physical science exams. I often find myself sitting in one of the store’s many chairs, with music blasting through my earbuds as I skim the titles. And I frequently find myself struggling to limit my purchases (as I discovered when I confronted the imposing task of boxing all of my recent Sem-Co acquisitions in order to move off campus).

As such, when I think of the university, I also think of the Seminary Co-op; while the bookstore is independent of the university, it is a critical component of our community. And I want to support the store as much as possible—especially during these difficult times. The Seminary Co-op bookstores are not-for-profit and independent. But in order to stay independent, and in order to continue providing a work space and invaluable resource to Hyde Park, these stores need the support of our community.

For this reason, there is a current campaign to provide Covid-19 relief to the Seminary Co-op Bookstores. The goal of the campaign is to reach $250,000 and the fundraiser is already halfway past its goal. Any donation—no matter the size—will be invaluable to the continued work of the bookstores.

And even in these difficult times, the bookstores continue to provide support to the university community. Individuals may still order books from the Seminary Co-op. The bookstores continue to publish new Open Stacks Podcast Episodes. And the stores just launched a Children’s book recommendation series (simply contact kidsbooks@semcoop.com for recommendations!). The stores themselves have also physically transformed, as their workers fulfill web orders safely. And it is my hope that we, as a community, can continue to support the Seminary Co-op during the Covid-19 pandemic, and beyond.

And in case one is in need of book recommendations, included below is a list of three of my favorite books, whose subjects are particularly relevant to these troubling times.

#3: Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude

“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” And so begins the story of Macondo: a small, magical town in the jungle, where the Buendía family resides for generations. I read this book while camping, last summer, and many of its descriptions have resided with me, ever since. Marquez’s magic realism is beautiful and this novel is his magnum opus.

One Hundred Years of Solitude is the type of book that sucks you in and doesn’t let go, as Marquez depicts everything from ghosts to levitating priests and seemingly endless rain. And the novel offers a much-needed escape into a magical world, though it is nonetheless shockingly like our own.

#2: Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning

The New York Times classifies this book as “survival literature,” and the classification is apt. After surviving Nazi concentration camps, psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl carefully chronicled his experience. More than that, he depicted how he survived. And while this book’s narrative is hauntingly somber, it is also hopeful. By describing his own life story and the stories of his patients, Frankl argues that man can survive—even when confronted with atrocities. Thus, while Frankl writes that man cannot avoid his suffering, Frankl also writes that man’s existence is not a lost cause. Instead, Frankl encourages his readers to find meaning in their suffering, so that they may move forward and ultimately thrive.

#1: Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow

‘“Who would have imagined,’ he said, ‘when you were sentenced to life in the Metropol all those years ago, that you had just become the luckiest man in all of Russia.’” (Towles 292).

When Mishka remarks upon the Count’s luck, he’s right. Despite being placed under house arrest in the grande Metropol Hotel, Count Alexander Rostov builds a full life for himself. He is confined to a hotel during one of the most chaotic periods of Russian history, and yet he finds a way to make the best of his circumstances. He makes great friends, falls in love, and raises a young girl. And through it all, the Count never loses his composure or his sense of wonder. This is one of my favorite books of all time. And it a testament to the way in which a single individual can choose to be happy—even while living in a hotel attic, in Soviet Russia.

Click here, for thumbnail image.