Students from School of Art Institute of Chicago's 'Project Monsoon' Livens Up The Streets of Seoul During The Rainy Season With Water-Activated Murals
When the yearly three-week long monsoon season hits South Korea all color is taken out of the streets as people are forced to stay indoors while the gloomy weather casts its shadow. But with the creative initiative of "Project Monsoon", streets will soon brighten up!
Shin Seung Hoon, Kim Yoon Shin and Kim Nu Ri, students from the School of Art Institute of Chicago, are the creative minds behind "Project Monsoon" which painted streets in Seoul using water-activated paint that will showcase colorful murals come rainy season.
The project was also made possible in partnership with Pantone, a company known for its color matching system, the Indepdent wrote Monday.
Kim Yoon Shin said the idea behind "Project Monsoon" was to bring back color in the streets of Seoul despite the gloomy weather.
"We painted the streets of Seoul with hydrochromic paint - a special formula which changes from transparent to opaque when it gets wet," said Kim
The design for the murals were inspired by South Korea's reverence for rivers.
"Inspired by South Korea's culture of emphasizing the importance of the flow of rivers, the paintings utilize Korea's topographical features that create a flow and puddle of rain water in every street to fill the streets with color and life," the team wrote about the project.
The Daily Mail reported Monday that initial images of the paintings were released through augmented reality billboards "to give people something to look forward to" in the coming monsoon season.
South Korea's monsoon season, known locally as "changma", lasts for 30 to 40 days, Mic.com noted Monday. It starts in late June to July.
The project was launched earlier this year, and after which it was awarded the 2015 New Blood Black Pencil and Yellow Pencil Awards by the Design & Art Direction, an organization of artists and designers that celebrates "the finest creative work in the world".