“As I stepped closer to this work of art, the peace of the forest disappeared. The trees, the rays of light and the outlines of the trees’ roots gradually scattered, leaving behind only entangled wires. They were all I could see. As I backed up, the forest reappeared, at first glance appearing like pencil drawings. Then I asked myself, is what I see now the forest, or not?” Sung-ran Park, Novelist

What We See is Not Everything

Seung-mo Park is a sculptor who uses stainless steel wires to create complex and stunning works of art. Park layers the wire, bending and welding it until he completes his three-dimensional sculptures.

The right distance is required to enjoy Seung-mo Park’s “Yeon-gi 8460.” Yeon-gi is a Buddhist concept of connection; everything is interdependent. All things arise as a result of multiple causes and conditions. As viewers draw closer, shapes scatter until finally they may wonder what they saw. Wire entanglements, which were used to make the piece, are all that remain. Suddenly, the viewers can feel the weight of the wire materials, and the change of the property can be confusing. Some of Park’s pieces weigh over one ton.

“Most people who see Yeon-gi have the same feeling,” says the artist, Seung-mo Park with a smile. Born in Gyung-nam Sanchung, he speaks with using a local dialect. Having been raised in a small country town, there was not much to see or do, so he occupied his time by drawing pictures on the ground. Although not really sure why, his usual subject was horses. Amazed, his friends would surround him, watching while he drew. After some time, his life would change because of a phone call from one of these friends.  

Most people focus on the material first. When Park exhibited his aluminum series, people often asked him how he came to decide on aluminum. They wondered how aluminum wires could be used to create everything objects like bicycles, instruments, statues of Buddha and even people.

A bicycle is a bicycle. An instrument is an instrument. Buddha is Buddha. But are the sculptures even real? The sculptures made of meticulously wound up wires are all empty inside. What the viewers think they see, isn’t truly there. The intensity of the subject matter and the difficulty of the pieces of art captivated audiences.

Seung-mo Park says of his work, “You recognize it clearly as a picture from a distance first, but as you start to approach, it begins to fade and you feel a sense of alienation. People usually move back to view the work again, what I want is only for them to ask themselves at that moment – ‘Is it real or not?’”

(Image: http://bit.ly/1JUM6aL)

Intertwining Connections with Steel

He had previously thought about creating art with steel. By chance, he spoke to his friend who happened to be a painter. “Different muscles are developed depending on the environment where a man grows up. And one can know who he is and how he has lived so far based on them.” That story remained with him for a long time. He wondered, was he made in a same way? If environment makes a man, is man not made of particles which are, in effect, just tangled connections?”

Park began work on Yeon-gi based on that idea; however, it was difficult to find adequate material to represent particles. He tried working with straw numerous times, but it couldn’t be molded. Aluminum was laborious to weld, but the biggest challenge was that it collapsed and couldn’t hold its shape. Steel was the final option. Steel is now his most favorite material because steel is capable of being molded and carved. Still it took a long time to find a way to make steel represent particles. 

Who Am I?

A phone call with his hometown friend prompted Park to ask himself, “Who am I?” His friend reminded him he once drew pictures very well. At that moment, Park realized that while he had once believed it was his mission, he only started to draw to get the attention of others. He immediately stopped studying and headed to India. While he was visiting Parbat Mountain, he found himself drawing again while sitting in a café. Speaking about his vision as active artist, he says, “I think there’s no answers. In the past, I tried to find answers. But now, all I think about is finding the question.”

(Image: http://bit.ly/1UDLRUy)

After the interview, the artist shared a photo of a back view of Yeon-gi. Yeon-gi is not a work of art that can be viewed passively. The audience actively views it from all angles. They will find more light from the back view than the front.

What is this? What is the difference between the back and the front of the wire entanglements? When the audience considers these questions, a complete understanding of the work is discovered. It is this duality that has been central to Seung-mo Park for a long time; life and death, dream and reality. The images he creates are vague, like a fantasy. We are only particles too, such as the trees and water in Yeon-gi. Suddenly, the audience finds themselves asking themselves the question, “Who am I?” There was no clear answer, but the question is enough.

In the second part of POSCO Weekly’s series featuring the recipients of POSCO’s Excellent Overseas Affiliate Prize, we introduce to you POSCO-CLPC, the recipient of the Market Frontier Prize, to share its achievements in amplifying sales and solidifying client relationships. (See the previous post here.)

POSCO-CLPC (President Lee Joo-sung) was established in July 2010 in the Shenyang-EU Economic Development Zone in Liaoning Province, China. Due to the increased automobile production in Northeast China, and subsequently the rising demand for automotive flat products, POSCO-CLPC now has an annual processing capacity of 170,000 tons.

POSCO-CLPC processes and supplies automotive flat products to carmakers such as FAW-VW, a joint venture between China FAW Group Corporation and Volkswagen, BMW Brilliance Automotive and Shanghai General Motors, using a just in time (JIT) production strategy. It also provides steel processing services to automotive component manufacturers in order to meet customers’ needs.

Starting with a sales of 38,000 tons in 2010, POSCO-CLPC has been showing steady growth, reaching an accumulated sales of 500,000 tons in December 2014. In 2014 alone, it achieved its highest annual sales record of 158,000 tons.

The year 2014 was a meaningful one for POSCO-CLPC, as its business endeavors to prepare for the increasing manufacturing capacity of BMW Brilliance and Shanghai GM in the Shenyang region came to fruition. After successful testing on seven auto parts, POSCO-CLPC became the new supplier of those parts and components, and its sales for BMW Brilliance has since doubled, compared to its 2013 figures.

Additionally, POSCO-CLPC has won a contract to offer blanking and molding services to BMW Brilliance for the BMW2 model, solidifying the relationship between the two companies.

Meanwhile, POSCO-CLPC’s sales volume for Shanghai GM and automotive component manufacturers has remarkably increased in response to the business trends of customers and the expansion of its supply to manufacturers of auto parts.

In recognition for its achievements in amplifying sales and solidifying relationships with its clients, POSCO-CLPC was selected as an Excellent Overseas Affiliate and awarded the Market Frontier Prize in March.

POSCO-CLPC is planning to increase its sales of automotive parts for upcoming vehicles in partnership with POSCO Headquarters, and to actively seek new opportunities to grow its business with global automotive component manufacturers that are scheduled to relocate to Shenyang. Also, it will expand its World Premium (WP) products and develop new opportunities for the sales of a variety of steel products, including stainless steel and electrical steel.

New York

(From left to right: Tibi, Lacoste and Sally LaPointe
Source: IMAX)

The F/W 2015 collections at New York Fashion Week were all about the return of the ‘70s. Designers brought a softer palette with textual details like fringe and shearling. This fall, glamorous 70s moments are expected to dazzle the fashion streets of New York.

London

(From left to right: Pavane, Timur Kim, Julien Macdonald, Burberry Prorsum and Issa,
Source: Fashionista)

It’s usually difficult to find a key trend that stands out due to the diversity of British designers at London Fashion Week. But this year was different. Continuing from the fringe details showed on New York’s runways, designers this season did not shy away from the same style.

But fashion is not something that exists in fabrics only. Here’s everything you need to know about fashion brought to you by stainless steel.

Surprising Fashion Items That Are Made of Stainless Steel

Watches

(Source: Pebble)

Stainless steel watches sound pretty ordinary since we’ve all seen so many from Casio, Timex, Seiko and more. In 2015, you can now check your email, store your music and download compatible apps with a feather-light device sitting on your wrist. Pebble’s new smartwatch is a stainless steel wearable device with an elegant look and cutting-edge technology. The best part is that the official name of the watch is “Steel.”

Bags

(Source: Wendy Stevens Website)

Using stainless steel as the key material, Wendy Stevens creates whimsical yet classic bags of various sizes and shapes. From a tiny purse to a big tote bag, her steel bags are certainly state-of-art fashion items that suggest a new approach to this edgy material.

Shoes

(Source: Caters News Agency)

There are shoes made of stainless steel, the same metal as your knives and forks. British shoe designer Chris Shellis revealed the “Borgezie Riviera Stiletto,” world’s first everlasting high heels. According to press releases, these shiny heels are surprisingly comfortable because there are silicone linings and removable soles that flex with your feet. If you are looking for a lifetime supply of a single pair, these heels are the perfect investment for your shoe shelf.

What is Stainless Steel?
According to the International Stainless Steel Forum, stainless steel is an alloy of iron and a small amount of carbon. It was invented in the early 20th century when it was found that adding a certain amount of the metal chromium to ordinary steel results in a glossy and rust-resisting property. This “corrosion resistance” aspect is what makes stainless steel unique.

POSCO (NYSE: , PKX) held IR conference call on October 23^rd, to announce its 3Q performance results.

On a consolidated basis, the company recorded 16,270 billion KRW (About 14.4 billion USD) in revenue and 879 billion KRW in operating profit. Operating profit margin went up to 5.4%, 0.4%pt increase from 2Q, due to stabilization of global steel business and increased profit in the energy sector.

Especially, Indonesian integrated mi started operation from January 2014, showed utilization rate of 82% and 24% increase in sales volume from the 2Q, which resulted in 3Q operating profit. Also, POSCO India’s electrical steel mill turned the profit through expanding its sales base. With support from the stabilized performance of overseas steel mills, steel sector profitability recorded 5.3%.

Meanwhile, Daewoo International’s Myanmar gas field showed 20% of an increase in operating profit from 2Q, as production expanded as scheduled. Along with the increase in production volume, the operating profit of POSCO Energy has also increased by 138% from 2Q.

POSCO stand-alone revenue reached 7,290 billion KRW (7.2901 trillion USD) and operating profit recorded 635 billion KRW. Due to increased export to overseas production centers, POSCO’s product sales and operating profit have enhanced. As a result, POSCO has recorded operating profit of 8.7%, which is 1.1%pt increase from 2Q.

POSCO is also expanding its automotive steel products sale, by using global production sites and sales network. As POSCO continues to expand sales to global automakers towards target regions, including the U.S. and China, through 5 automotive steel product mills, and 47 coil centers, POSCO expects to reach 8.2 million ton in total sales amount of automotive steel in 2014.

POSCO’s client-oriented solution marketing activities have contributed to the increase in a high-value steel product sales. Adding to the development of high-strength PosM Steel, super austenitic stainless steel products and magnesium panel, the new automotive lightweight material, the sales of the solution marketing products have increased up to 407 thousand tons, which is 59% increase from 2Q.

Although the steel demand in 4Q is expected to increase slightly, due to seasonality and the slow market conditions of the automobile industry, POSCO plans to steadily expand the client-oriented solution marketing activities.

Moreover, POSCO has continued to reduce carbon emissions through activities, such as building off-gas power plants. Furthermore, POSCO will continue its social contribution to reducing greenhouse gases by development and sales of high strength steel for a lighter-weight automobile.

Thank you very much for joining us today. Can you tell us about how you started working at POSCO?

I’d say I grabbed the opportunity at the right moment. I was working for a translation agency which I’d established after coming back from Taiwan, where I gave lectures at the Central Police University. One day, I saw an advert from newspaper saying POSCO was hiring overseas regional experts. It certainly drew my attention. Before applying for it, I was slightly hesitative because I heard POSCO was a bit conservative towards female employees. It took me some time to consider but eventually, I handed in my resume and got accepted.

It was a big challenge. Until then, I only had experiences at schools. Then, I thought it could be quite fun to work in a company. My career at POSCO began in the overseas investment and business department. There was a great degree of investments in China by POSCO during the time. My Chinese skill came in very handy and I was also an interpreter for the management. Later, I moved my post to Sales for heated carbon and stainless steels.

When did you feel most challenged while working at POSCO?

Few years ago, I was reassigned to Beijing Office when my parents-in-law were very unwell and my husband was the only child to look after them. Although my husband told me to seize the opportunity, I just couldn’t leave them behind and move abroad. I even thought of quitting the job because of this. But POSCO showed me a tremendous consideration and allowed me to stay put in Seoul. I am still thankful for POSCO as the company listened to my voice and understood the personal issue.

Could you share your ‘Know-Hows’ on communicating with young colleagues?

I often visit my junior colleagues’ Facebook accounts. You can see their thoughts and worries through SNS which can be quite helpful to understand the difficulties they are facing. Speaking with my eldest daughter is another way of enhancing my communication skills with young employees. She is familiar with thoughts of the young generations like her so I try to have more conversations with my daughter whenever I can.

What would be your advantages as a female leader?

I reckon my strongest attribute comes when I take care of each individual’s feelings carefully. Notably in marketing, which is my field, it could be a great boost if you care for clients with great delicacy so you can lead them into a right direction.

How do you keep the balance between family and work?

I personally think husbands should be great supporters. My husband is same age as I am and we are just like friends. We talk about concerns and worries about our works together. There are certain things you cannot share with colleagues but you can always speak to your spouse about, well, virtually anything.

Also, husbands need to help their wives to keep up with housework such as raising children. The majority of female workers tend to feel sorry for not being able to spend much time with their kids. But I think it really depends on how you put it. When my kids were about three or four years old, I always explained to them about what I was doing for work because I thought it was essential to let them know their mom was playing an important role as a member of society, not just working to gain financial rewards. We need to make our children to be proud of us, not neglected. Also, I try to emphasize their roles within a family for studying hard and being independent. My children have been behaving really well to me and I’m grateful for that.

Are there any advices that you would like to give to your female junior employees?

I’ve seen many women taking time-offs or quitting their jobs after getting married. I feel sorry when the female talents are forced to cease their careers because of the first 1 or 2 years of childcare after giving birth. When my children were babies, I was living with my parents-in-law and they brought the children up with so much love. Some say it’s hard to live with their parents-in-law but I think there are so many things you can learn and thankfully receive from them. We only need to talk and narrow down our differences and things will turn out to be fine.

What is your grateful moment as a member of POSCO?

I appreciate POSCO for trusting me and promoting my position to be the first female team leader, group leader and executive. The President of Overseas Corporation carries a tremendous responsibility of managing a corporate and I’m glad that the company offered me the role.

You’ve worked in marketing field for quite a long period. Do you have any special business skills to tip us off?

I focused on developing our small and medium-sized enterprise partners’ potentialities so they could overcome the market’s fierce competition. Also I put a lot of effort into understanding clients. Such efforts have resulted in improvements of the relationship between POSCO and the partners. For instance, there was a Japanese steel pipe manufacturer, which wasn’t participating in any meaningful business with us. Now, the firm has become one of our royal customers purchasing 90 percent of their purchases from POSCO. I managed to accomplish the success by researching their needs whenever I visited the firm. After a while, I realized that Japanese companies had limited knowledge of foreign trends and market condition as they were generally targeting domestic market. I provided them with information of export market because I was familiar with the area as a leader of the export team. The company could act faster than its competitors and generated profits with the resources I gave them and it naturally led to the firm’s trust in me.

Such achievement was feasible because I tried to assist them by developing their potentiality so they could overcome the market’s fierce competition. If I had only offered cheaper price or any other simplistic solutions, the success would not have been possible.

What are the essential attributes and attitudes you would suggest your fellow members to have?

POSCO is a manufacturing company so a firm discipline should be applied to all. Furthermore, our staff ought to possess a sense of ownership towards the company. You need to do your best, even if certain decisions could give you hard times. At the end of the day, you will realize it was worthwhile doing and satisfactory results will soon follow. This is a view I would like to put forward to, not only POSCO but also, our affiliates.

As for the last question, how do you see yourself after 5 or 10 years from now on?

If there’s an opportunity, I’d like to work as a marketing executive to develop myself by managing a broader region. Struggling markets like Japan at the moment would be the place I’d want to challenge. For a long term aim, my dream is to challenge myself as far as I can and keep advancing forward.

After the interview with Vice President Liang, POSCO could realize how important it is to love our work and devote ourselves to the company. This concludes our series of interviews with POSCO’s three female executives. POSCO wish their journey ahead would be leading them towards glorious success, setting the fine examples for POSCO and other female talents. As always, POSCO’s effort to cultivate female leadership marches on.