North Korean animation “Pencil Rocket” has been posted on the Internet video site YouTube. This animation, which was made for elementary school children, teaches the children how to use a protractor. However, the contents are comprised of hostility towards the US military and efforts to defeat them.

The story is as follows: The main character, Seok-Pal, is trying to catch a rabbit in the forest when a friend mocks him by saying, “All you do is draw those pig-headed American bastards in class and now here you are playing war all by yourself.” He then returns home and sits at his desk. The homework he has to do is on how to use a protractor. Seok-Pal is inciting his will to fight by drawing an American military helmet with the letters U.S. written on it in his textbook when he suddenly falls asleep.

In his dream the U.S. fleet is coming to attack. He and his friend try to defeat the U.S. soldiers by firing a rocket they have made from pencils, but they continue to fail because they can’t correctly set the angle. This is because they didn’t know how to use the protractor. Finally Seok-Pal awakes after suffering the counter-attacks of the American fleet. Seok-Pal states that he “realizes that he needs to study hard in class and listen to his teachers to become a good soldier of the people.” This leads into some math practice on accurately setting the center axis when measuring angles on the protractor.

Man and Rope 107cm x 84cm x 118cm
Silicone, pigment, fiberglass, acrylic and hair 2009

Avatar Sculpture Works represents the works of Hyper- Realist sculptors Jamie Salmon and Jackie K. Seo.



Jackie K. Seo is a Korean born, self taught contemporary sculptor, living and working in Vancouver, Canada. She also started her career working as a commercial artist for the movie industry and specialises in hyper-realist sculpture.

Jackie says of her working process; "Whenever I think about life, it reminds me of that car repair ad you sometimes see in the classifieds, "scratches, dents, peeling?". Life is also never perfect, there`s always something that needs constant maintenance.

In each of my pieces I like like to show a moment where we feel the need to repair something in our lives and how we deal with it. I think the style of hyper-realism is a good way of showing the minute subtleties of the challenges of life, in a sculptural form.

I can show things like the wetness of tears in the eyes, the flushing of skin or the story that the fine lines and wrinkles of the face tell. The biggest challenge is balancing the overall feel of the piece without getting lost in the details.

My satisfaction comes when I feel that I`ve reached someone with my work and they can maybe empathize with part of it".