Museums in Jeju Island: Alive Museum – fun by optical illusions and trick art

I had first planned to publish both Alive Museum and the Teddy Bear museum pictures together but halfway through the post I realized there are going to be too many pictures! You’re most likely going to get cramped fingers from scrolling all the way to the bottom and hence the separate postings for both museums.
Unlike any other museums, both venues are suitable for leisure viewing and are extremely photogenic places so be sure to visit them armed with a camera.

After I stumbled out from the Teddy Bear Museum our guide announced that we are heading to yet another museum. I cringed inwardly and couldn’t even muster fake enthusiasm.
Plan B in mind, I took my laptop with me and stepped down from the bus.

Would you believe it if I told you that I ended up having so much fun that I carried the  extra weight of the laptop for nothing? And I actually didn’t feel bored throughout my time here.
It helped that I had a good partner and photographer who assisted me in taking all the cool pictures you will see within this post. Thanks Arief (Christopher) for being such a sport. 🙂

Located near the entrance to Jungmun Tourist Complex, the museum’s classical façade is grand and monumental. In fact from the facade, it certainly didn’t look anything like what it contains within.

We spent about 2 hours here and were exhausted after posing with the arts. I certainly didn’t expect it to be so interesting!

The entire floor is divided into 5 main themes -trick art, digital art, object art, sculpture art and Provence art.

Each theme allows you to experience optical illusion art in different approaches.

We started with Objet Art. It was an amusing start to our experience here. Everyone became a kid again and seemed to compete with each other to exhibit the silliest imaginable pose!

Detailed captions recommend fun poses visitors might take in front of the paintings. I was grateful for these captions as it helped to explain what the hell is going on!

And here’s the painting for you to replicate the pose.

In reality the tray and the wire is actually part of the painting. It does look 3 -dimensional right? Well that’s the fun of the ALIVE Museum for you!

This is how you’re supposed to pose.

This lady has her leg sticking out of the painting…

..NOT! Her leg is actually part of the painting.

And when viewed from different angles, her leg may look short and pudgy or slim and lithe.

Cool isn’t it? I could spend hours here getting mindf***ed but hey we are on borrowed time here so we had to move quickly from exhibit to exhibit. Bear in mind too that it is a very popular place for obvious reasons so you do need to wait for your turn to take photos at some exhibits.

Here’s a test – could you guess how are you supposed to pose with this one? 🙂

Or this one?

Oops! 😀

Pour me some milk please!

The next few shows the musician in the painting playing their instruments but only the part that holds/or plays he instruments moves – ie the fingers moves. You can’t see it as clearly from this boy and his flute (notice the ‘blue’ area)…

… but you might see it clearer here. See where her hands are on the piano keys? That’s the illuminated ‘part’ that comes to life – meaning you can see her running her hands over the keys if you are standing right in front of the painting. And of course in the background a tune plays in correspondence to her playing.

Explanation:

I think you’re getting an idea of how the Alive Museum works yes? 🙂

Moving on we went past digital art. I didn’t quite catch how the digital art works and it seemed to be more ‘serious’ compared to the other lighthearted exhibits.

Trick art was definitely cool. Trick art renders 2D paintings in 3D by creating illusion. Each work looks differently when seen from different angles or spots. Its magic magnifies when seen from our camera lenses.

Simple tricks like the stairs..

..to some really really unbelievably realistic trick art!

The devil….

..or the angel is me?? 🙂

How do you think this was done?

Or this?

Help! The King Kong is dropping me into his dinner bowl!

I posted this on FB and everyone wondered how this was possible.

Same reactions for this too!

Armageddon!

Gasp! Free me! I’m trapped in my laptop!

There’s many more so do allow yourself 2 hours here at least.

A café is conveniently located right outside the third exhibit, allowing visitors to take a break before continuing on the tour in the gardens where the Sculpture Art followed by the Provence Art are.

That’s a long one Tareq. It look even worst when you have your other hand in between your thighs.

Sculpture Art is basically sculptures modeled after famous French-style bronze and stone sculptures in an outdoor garden.

 

The Provence art exhibit conjures images of children’s stories and fairy tales. The exhibit is smallest in comparison to the others. 

 

 

At the end of the whole exhibit is the souvenir shop which offers not only t-shirts, toys and memorabilias but nice artwork as well.

Like what you see? Then head to the Alive Museum for some educational and fun hours!

Ermm, ok, some stuffs are 18SX  😉

HOW TO GET HERE:
Car/Taxi – 38.8 km from airport, approximately 1 hour
Bus: From the airport, take Bus 600 to Yeomiji Botanical Garden Entrance. From there, walk north, approximately 12 minutes in the direction of the Jeju Tourism Organization Welcome Center.
Address: 42 Jungmunggwanggwang-ro, Seogwipo City, Jeju
Phone: 064-805-0888
Website: http://www.alivemuseum.co.kr (Korean)
Admission fee: Adults 9,000 KRW (RM30)

A lot of people asked – “Jeju Trick Art Museum or Jeju Alive Museum?” I was told that the later is better as it is bigger and has more contents to enjoy.
Note:
There are tons of museums on Jeju Island.
Green Tea Museum, Glass Museum, Jeju World Seashell Museum, Trick Art Museum, Alive Museum, Teddy Museum, Chocolate Museum, Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Jeju Folklore and Natural History Museum, and the list goes on.
So rain or shine, there’s plenty to do on this unspoiled beautiful island. While I’m all for the sunshine, beach and sporty activities, for those seeking cultural and heritage enlightenment or just pure silly fun, there’s something for everyone on Jeju! 😀

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*This wonderful experience was part of our itinerary during our Jeju media familiarization trip organized by AirAsia X. Thank you AAX!

* AirAsia X flies 7 times a week from Seoul, Korea to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
* AirAsia X flies 4 times a week from Busan, Korea to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

FLIGHT SCHEDULE FOR KUALA LUMPUR- SEOUL, KOREA

Flights From	Departure/ Arrival	Flight No.	Frequency
Kuala Lumpur to Seoul	08:50/16:10 01:45/08:20	D7 0504 D7 0506	1,3,5 2,4,6,7
Seoul to Kuala Lumpur	17:35/23:20 09:35/15:20	D7 0505 D7 0507	1,3,5 2,4,6,7

• 1- Monday, 2- Tuesday, 3- Wednesday, 4- Thursday, 5- Friday, 6-Saturday, 7-Sunday

FLIGHT SCHEDULE FOR KUALA LUMPUR- BUSAN, KOREA

Flights From	Departure/ Arrival	Flight No.	Frequency
Kuala Lumpur to Busan	08:30 / 15:45	D7 512	4,7
Busan to Kuala Lumpur	17:00 / 22:20	D7 513	4,7
Kuala Lumpur to Busan	01:15/08:30	D7 518	1,5
Busan to Kuala Lumpur	10:35/15:55	D7 519	1,5

Days: 1-Monday, 4- Thursday, 5- Friday, 7- Sunday