Aggregation 10 – MY016 BLUE AND RED, 2010, Mixed media with Korean mulberry paper, 131 x 195 cm

Singapore, April 2013 – Art Plural Gallery is pleased to present Assemblage, a solo exhibition of Korean artist Chun Kwang Young. Featuring 22 of his latest works, the exhibition will run from 29 May to 27 July 2013.

Chun Kwang Young has spent his career seeking the individuality of a style that allows him to express the dualities indigenous to his work. Beginning the long journey into Abstract Expressionism in the 1970s, a move to America spurred him to embrace a direction that could freely express the divide he encountered between promises and reality. From there, Chun sought a personal language and a strong voice that would allow him to incorporate influences from his homeland.

A seminal moment came in 1995, when Chun began to create structural works of art made of the assemblage of hundreds of polystyrene foam triangles wrapped in Korean mulberry paper. Known as hanji, the paper is deeply rooted in Korean tradition and was at one time a ubiquitous household material, as well as a means of wrapping various objects such as medicine and food. In the words of the artist, “I think the thing I first saw [as a child] was my mother’s face, and then there was mulberry paper. This paper is not just for writing and drawing, but is like the spirit and soul of Koreans.”

In Chun Kwang Young’s Aggregations, each triangle wrapped in this paper embodies a distinct and independent semantic component or entity of information. Every boundary represents a confrontation, a clash of two viewpoints that cannot be resolved: dreams against reality, mass consumption against poverty, the ‘American Dream’ against Asian traditional values… These antinomies all left their marks on the artist, who experienced first-hand the twisting reality of the American ironic idyll in the 1970s.

Seemingly minimal at a distance, the works demand a closer scrutiny of the varying landscapes with elations, depressions and colour gradations. In an obsessive and repetitive manner, Chun organises his compositions as accumulations. By sewing triangles together on a two-dimensional plane, the artist develops a map of relations; a labyrinth created by the dichotomy of choice – harmony or conflict.

Although an individual triangle may appear aesthetically attractive, the scattered Korean and Chinese characters bend and twist, eluding any global understanding. A new message emerges out of the voices of authors from the most eclectic literary sources.

The power of Chun’s work is not found merely in the details, but in the entirety of the piece as a whole: the aggregation of these messages. The artist experiments with fate, luck and coincidence by placing ideas next to each other and analysing the result. Thus, the simplicity of these ideas coexisting next to each other allows for a new level of aggregations that create, at each scale, more opportunity for interpretation. His canvas becomes a network saturated with meaning.

However, Chun Kwang Young goes beyond merely depicting these aggregations; he meticulously uses the border of each triangle as a line of interaction to be found on the landscape. These edges become scars created by conflict, while each black sphere hints at missing or hidden information. Chun’s canvas is a collage that contains a micro history of human relationships, as the artist offers to re-interpret political and social events on mulberry paper. These organic landscapes are metaphors of our modern society, devastated by the destruction of our environment, capitalism and endless conflict.

“My work now is not comfortable work. It is still quiet yet very strong. I want the work to be received like boiling oil and fire” – Kwang Young Chun, 2006.
“It is a great honour to present Chun Kwang Young’s newest body of work at Art Plural Gallery. With its uniquely poetic aesthetics, the message of his work is more powerful than ever today.” – Frédéric de Senarclens, founder of Art Plural Gallery.

By Dan Foley

“Dude, is there anywhere good to eat around here?”

“Yo, what was that restaurant Kevin was raving about the other day?”
“I feel like I eat the same thing every time I come here. Think there’s anything new to grub out on?”

These are the questions that plague the foodie, the hunger-starved individual desperate for a new and delicious culinary experience. MangoPlate, a new application for Android and iPhone, is attempting to make such queries a thing of the past. How do they plan to accomplish this? By making the most comprehensive, innovative, and convenient database of Seoul eateries to date.

Conceptually, MangoPlate is nothing new. Every page features photographs of the restaurant and featured dishes. The content is largely user-generated. Everything from directions, phone numbers, recommended dishes, and even the reviews themselves are done by the MangoPlate community. There is also a robust search function that allows users to explore the city based of neighborhood, price, or the type of food they are craving.

So what’s special about this app? The SNS features distinguish it from the pack. MangoPlate implements Facebook, allowing you to view the activity of your Facebook friends via MangoPlate. You can see their favorite spots and, perhaps more importantly, the places worth avoiding. After all, no one wants to spend money on a bad meal. If none of your Facebook friends have downloaded MangoPlate as of yet, fear not. Everyone is automatically given one friend, the mysterious epicurean known as “MangoPlate.” The extensive reviews of this connoisseur are enough to provide you with a solid basis for the known hot spots across Seoul.

This is all done through the “Restaurant Feed.” Essentially a newsfeed of newly updated restaurants, it provides users with information of the trendiest spots in Seoul. And, as Seoul is a city featuring over one hundred thousand restaurants with constant turnover, MangoPlate will never find itself with a lack of new contents.

The sole complaint for this author is the color scheme, which is just a bit too orangey. I get it, it’s MangoPlate, but I find it slightly off-putting. However, if you can see past their choice of aesthetic, you’re left with an application that is extremely practical and very worthy of a download.

CultureM meets a pianist Kim TaeHyung from CultureM on Vimeo.

by Kim Shin Joong (Editor of ArtM Classic Magazine which is a sister magazine of CultureM)

An interview with Kim Tae Hyung. His concerns, thoughts and answers.

Kim Tae Hyung has always wanted to be a pianist who delivers the truth. I have been curious the whole time, exactly what does “Delivering the truth” mean? Coming from an audience’s perspective, I still can’t understand what truth Kim Tae Hyung is trying to convey with his music.

Many musicians have always tried to find their own style in performing and interpreting music their own way. Of course, they are very diligent in learning music basics in the beginning, but musicians who are at a certain level try to discover their true colors and perhaps a lot of audiences out there are wishing to hear musicians with their own style as well. Musicians with their own style are more attractive to audiences who end up coming back for more.

Then, how about Kim Tae Hyung? Well, we can’t really put any label that can suit his style. There’s no doubt that his music simply moves you greatly to tears but you just can’t put your finger on what it is that you are feeling. However people are moved by him and many critics are acknowledging his music. Yet, why is it so difficult to find a label for him?

His playing is truly amazing, yet compared to other musicians with the same music, he is relatively unknown. Perhaps the reason is that he does not have his own color. It’s almost impossible for most musicians to have a consistent style as they perform and live their lives. Life itself affects players greatly and can occasionally change their styles even.

However, there is a big advantage in pursuing the truth. The truth doesn’t change. Kim Tae Hyung is not trying to put a new spin on the music, he is only trying to deliver the music as the composer intended.

No matter how comfortably dressed you are, nothing is ever more comfortable than falling asleep without a single piece of clothing on in your own bed. We forget how precious it is while we are awake and walking around, but at the end of the day we all take off our clothes and close our eyes seeking that comfort. It’s that same custom when you close your eyes quietly and open your ears to his music, you realize what that truth Kim Tae Hyung pursues and how precious it is. His music is in the deepest place of the truth that the composer created in his music.

CultureM meets a fashion designer, Lee SukTae from CultureM on Vimeo.

By Jeongeun Grace Park

For a fashion designer, to be able to run their own brand successfully for 5 years requires not only a talent for design, but also the talent for running a business. This is not just a story that happens only in Korea, where many upcoming designers have jumped into a bigger market based solely on their design skills and then suffer so much when they are faced with the cold tough reality. Perhaps becoming a superb designer relies more on how patient you can be while chasing your dream.

In the late 90s, Lee Suktae was in Paris developing his experience in fashion. Then he saw an opportunity to come back to Korea when he won one of Korea’s Design competitions. His future in Korea only seemed brighter when he launched his brand Kaal E Suktae with overflowing attention from the Korean fashion industry. Unfortunately, regardless of his talent and passion, his business was affected and suffered from the IMF crisis which ended up closing his Brand down.

Kaal E. Suktae is a brand that excels in structural design because Lee Suktae is highly inspired by architectural design for strong practical career women. Kaal E. Suktae keeps his design simple and classic yet keeps it modern by mixing many different elements for these strong characteristic women.

For this year’s F/W season show, he presented the theme HIPSTER, the design that showed how Kaal E. Suktae’s identity has turned into a trend. Specifically, the lines and curves that were inspired by a honey bee, were the most impressive features of his design. He didn’t put a limit on choosing materials, even for a single coat, he mixed materials such as wool, jersey and nylon together.

Lee Suktae has always been a meticulous and detail oriented student whose sole desire to be a designer filled his school days with studies and enthusiasm for design. Even though his dream finally came true, he still carries the same passion and enthusiasm as he did before he became a designer.

For these reasons, he is a designer who is welcomed not only in the domestic market but in the international market as well. Given his experiences in the global market where he tested his potential, he will never stop challenging this international market where first and foremost, design identity is respected; more reason why his core design philosophy will never change even though his design may change with each passing season.

With his steadfast will, Kaal E Sucktae will never stop trying until his brand becomes a global brand.

Chairman of uJung Foundation, Seungwoo Jung

130108 UJung Art Center from CultureM on Vimeo.

uJung Art Center is a new complex cultural space opened in Seoul one year ago.
CultureM meets a chairman of uJung Foundation, Seungwoo Jung who opened the center.
uJung named after honored pseudonym of Maternal great grandfather of Chairman Seungwoo Jung.
His great grandfather always wanted to help many suffering Korean students during the Korean War, so he decided to establish the uJung Foundation.
The goal of the uJung Foundation is to raise students with Ji – Wisdom, Duk – Morals, Che – Health to acheive Nobless Oblige.

CultureM: Tell us about the various spaces of uJung Art Center.
Seungwoo Jung: Let me talk about the uJung Art Center first. Our initial design ideas for the center were to focus on a complex cultural space. We believe that there are a lot of sections under the heading of fine art, so every music and art needs its own creative room and then therefore it also needs a display room. So artists will need a space for themselves to practice or create their work and then they will need the space to share their work with an audience, thus each floor has private areas for artists and commercial areas to display artists’ work. Also we created a “healing space” to reach out to people who are tired and stressed from their work and life so that we can touch and move their hearts with art and culture.

The Mouton Cadet Wine Bar “The place to be” at the Festival de Cannes
Ahead of this year’s 2013 Festival de Cannes, which runs from May 15th to 26th, Mouton Cadet has been selected the official wine supplier at the Cannes International Film Festival, again.

Mouton Cadet is modestly priced, generic Bordeaux wine which is produced through the assembly of a variety of grapes, from several Bordeaux region appellations. It is created by Baron Philippe de Rothschild of the Rothschild banking dynasty, the wine named after his premier cru vineyard Château Mouton Rothschild.
Last year, already present at the most famous tables in Cannes, Mouton Cade Red, Mouton Cadet White and le Rose de Mouton Cadet, was served to all guests and offiicials.

The Mouton Cadet Wine Bar will be the most exclusive venue on the Croisette this year again. The Mouton Cade Wine Bar will welcome a number of celebrities: the terrace is located on the rooftop of the Palais des Festivals, facing Cannes and the Suquet port.

Hollywood stars like Robert de Niro, Jude Law, Faye Dunaway were already using it as their meeting place.

By Social Underground / CultureM Music Journalist

On Saturday May 4th, Social Underground returns to Exit to once more showcase the freshest and best in DJ talent on the Korean peninsula.

Joining Aaron Cho, Sam Gates, and SU regular, Lewis Anthony is Stoned Project head honcho, Nukid. Incheon born and raised, Nukid is no stranger to the underground house scene in the capital. Forming Stoned Project to bring an underground flavor to his hometown, he has also graced the decks at notable underground venues in the nation’s first city.

Social Underground caught up with Nukid ahead of his appearance.

Social Underground: When did you first start DJing?

Nukid: I started out as a bedroom DJ in 2001. My parents were running a record store, and naturally I was influenced by them and started to collect records. As I was exposed to different types of good music, I wanted to share my newfound knowledge with the people around me and this eventually led to me becoming a DJ. At the time, there were no private institutes where you could just go and get DJ lessons so you had to look on different websites like YouTube to find resources.

SU: Not many Korean DJs play deep house. How did you start?

N: Actually, hip-hop, rhythm and blues, and funk were the main genres of music I was playing at the beginning of my career, and even up until 2011 I was playing a lot of tech house. I had a close friend named E-Hyun who was also a DJ and he got me the opportunity to play at lounge club, 50b in Itaewon. As I looked for music that would go down well with the Itaewon crowd, I discovered deep house. I only had to listen to a few tracks before I was completely hooked. Deep house was great because it encompassed many of the qualities of music I enjoy; down tempo, minor chords, grooves, and melodies.

SU: Who do you take inspiration from?

N: No joke, after playing music for a long time, there seems to come a point where I feel emotionally dry, or just not as responsive. Last year, I decided that I should be exposing myself to different genres of music and also to different areas of the arts such as literature, film, dance, and exhibitions to keep myself from becoming dull and desensitized.

SU: How would you describe the underground house music scene in your country?

N: For a while, the underground house music scene seemed to be going through a depression. But in recent years, more and more people have been gaining interest in the underground music scene, and this seems to be a good sign. There are also a lot of great venues popping up everywhere that you can go to simply enjoy music and generally have fun. I consider this shift in perspective a big milestone.

SU: Who is contributing to the underground house music scene in Korea?

N: There are some pioneers of this era that have led the way for us in their professionalism and willingness to experiment. Also, the clientele at the bars and clubs are the ones who listen to the music we play, and they have been setting the bar higher for us which pushes us into bigger and better things.

Regarding venues, I would say that Platoon, Mute, Mystik, Cakeshop, and Exit have proved quite essential in our events and parties. As for crews, ECI, Less N Less, Silk/Juice, Social Underground, and Bass Attack have given us the chance to experience so many fresh and new things. I am so grateful to know these people and what they have taught me is priceless.

SU: What do you think needs to happen to help the underground house music scene grow in Korea?

N: For a long time, people didn’t take the underground music scene very seriously and this includes a lot of people that were musicians or DJs which I find sad. Mind barriers need to be broken down before any real progress can happen. Marketing and event promotion need to be taken to a whole new level. No more sitting around waiting for crowds to just wander in. Playing good music is no longer enough, we need to be more aggressive in promoting what we have to offer. And maybe this means we also need to be more confident about what we actually have to offer. Like anything new, people need to be coaxed in to dip a toe in before they are willing to give a moment of their time and even more so, their money. I’m not talking about the type of “promotion” in a cheap or sleazy way like some night clubs that hire people to grab you on the street and try to pull you into a dark club, we need to step up our strategies. We need a fresh outlook on things, something new and fun. Sadly, many club owners are constantly trying to cut costs or they just try to get DJs to play for free. God knows we all have bills to pay, but music shouldn’t be seen as something free to give out. There are also a lot of amateur minded DJ’s who are muddying the waters with their short sighted vision and cheapening what I consider an art.

SU: What is Stoned Project?

N: Incheon is where I grew up, it’s my hometown, and currently where I am living. Even though it’s so close to Seoul, there is little or no underground scene. So I had an idea to throw some block party style events where people can just have fun and listen to great music; picnics, barbecues, and eventually clubs. A lot of my DJ friends in Incheon have been giving me so much support. What started out as an idea has really grown into a project.

Click here and here for more information about Stoned Project.

SU: What can we expect when you play Social Underground?

N: I’m not usually the type to pre-organize set lists, so I honestly don’t even know what will happen. However, I will probably focus my set around deep house. When the time comes, I think it all depends on the interaction between whoever I’ll be hanging out with that night and bouncing off of that. Although I want to have fun with it, I also want my mix to have a story. And if the story is something that can move hearts, even better. I can see it being a fun night with a solid set of great music to keep everyone connected to the vibe I hope to set up.

Click here to join the Facebook Event Page.

Click here for directions to Exit.

Click here for more information about Social Underground.

By John Glynn

It has been a decent year for us veteran moviegoers and at the same time, inevitably, we have been forced to endure a generous amount of faecal excrement that Hollywood calls “entertainment”. But from Cloud Atlas to The Croods, I’d say that things are beginning to get progressively better. 2013 could very well be Hollywood’s seminal year. Real entertainment may actually be tangible, maybe we will start being entertained again!

Speaking of entertainment, Mr. Tom Cruise is always a man who provides plenty of controversy. Love him or loathe him, his latest offering is a masterpiece of a Sci-Fi movie, and trust me; I know what I am talking about, I’ve now seen it three times. Initially, when I was asked if I would like to see Oblivion, my first thoughts involved something along the lines of – Perhaps this is a follow up to The Hangover series.

I couldn’t have been more wrong if I wanted to be, there is not a decent Sci-Fi movie released in the last few decades that I’ve not viewed. Honestly, I absolutely love the ‘futuristic-look Sci-Fi flicks, one can’t help but feel a sense of optimism about the future when watching movies such as I Robot, The Fith Element, Total Recall (Yes, even the remake), Aliens, Blade Runner, A Space Odyssey, etc.

For quite a while now, I have been longing to re-experience some of that futuristic warmth that one longs for from Sci-Fi movie, only with big-budget special effects and modern-day cinematography. I am not a huge Tom Cruise fan, but I genuinely can’t imagine anyone playing the part of Jack Harper (the main character of Oblivion) better than he did. Cruise managed to capture the ‘still acting’ moments so well that I had to slap my face just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming! An action hero Tom Cruise ain’t, but some inexperienced robot tech in ultramodern attire he certainly is! Oblivion begins by showing us a world ravaged by an alien attack. Apart from an imploded moon, it looks very similar to a world straight from the PC game Half-Life 2, in which aliens also attacked our wonderful world. The ocean levels have dropped drastically (something for you global warming alarmists), and what were once bastions of human originality are now mere piles of rubble.

From the token block-buster narration, we learn that humans staged a fight back, used nukes, and actually won the war. Nevertheless, what is left of humanity now has no option but to live of the moons of Jupiter, as Earth is too damaged, it’s basically broken, far too ravaged to support any population. Still swarming about the surface of the earth, those nasty aliens await. Stylistically, the post-apocalyptic Earth in Oblivion looks much less miserable than what we are accustomed to seeing.

With the intro out of the way, enter Jack Harper and his team mate. They are the last two people stationed on Earth and their job is to observe and defend the huge fusion reactors that turn seawater into raw energy, vital power needed to sustain the colony on Jupiter’s moon. These fusion reactors are a critical mechanism and if they fail, so does the remainder of humanity. Besides futuristic plasma / laser artillery, Cruise and his sidekick are assisted by drone robots to help them fend off attacks from the lingering extraterrestrial presence, something that mightn’t seem to alien (pardon the pun) to a true Scientologist.

Anyway, these robots are awesome, probably the coolest robots I’ve witnessed in quite some time. Even the T-800 from Terminator cannot compare to these floating orbs of obliteration. Any of you gaming-geeks who has played the Portal games on Steam will see an eerie resemblance between the robots in Oblivion and those in the highly addictive game.

So why exactly does a ravaged planet need a drone repair man, let alone drones, anyway? Jack describes the joint venture as a “mop up crew”, maintaining these weighty artillery airborne goliaths that guard vast hydro stations dotted around the planet. The drones require military muscle as they are attacked by Scavs, an alien species, supposedly, the cause of all this misery in the first place. Cruise ponders long and hard over why these pesky gremlins are still around some sixty years on. Initially, they destroyed our moon, and then they buggered up our tides and weather systems. Bastards!

On the topic of profanity, I only recall hearing “sh*t” once in the movie, but I am assured that there is stronger language used. As Oblivion is rated as a 12A, it does keep the bloodshed and canoodling to a minimum, but is generously compensated by pyrotechnics aplenty. Oh, and getting back to the moon, it was about an hour into the movie when I thought about Moon, the movie. You know the one, the maintenance guy with not long to go before a contract ends. Sound familiar?

Oblivion is luscious in its cinematography, the CGI Special FX are stunning and unassuming supporting actors serve the deep, fulfilling, stirring, and rather thrilling story. I shared empathy with the characters, came to despise the enemy, and enjoyed the overall ride on several different levels. Mystery man Morgan Freeman’s chilling delivery of the critical back-story elements makes you wish that subtitles could appear at any given time.

God, I love that man. Go see the movie, it’s rather good.

AUX from CultureM on Vimeo.

Q: About World music band AUX
AUX: Let’s say we are the rising star in the fusion music industry where each musician is from a different field of music and we got together to do what we like to do. Everyone seems quite curious about our name AUX, but it simply came from a label on one of the outlets in the sound mixer. As Aux receives sound from the external environment then produces the sound, we as a band like to take in as many different sources of music and produce new music by processing it with our own touch of colors.

Q: The biggest Attraction and characteristics of Korean Classical music
AUX: Firstly I think Korean traditional instruments make an inherently unique sound. Also it’s very difficult to harmonize its sound with western instruments. The sounds just don’t mix together when you play these two instruments simultaneously. It has been a huge challenge for us but we don’t want to give up just because it’s difficult. We actually enjoy the creative process of putting these very different sounds together and it has been motivating for us to have this constructive challenge.

Q: Introducing Korean sound to the World, What is of the utmost importance ?
AUX: To be honest, we weren’t a team who gathered with a grand mission to do something with traditional instruments. We were just together because we wanted to do something special with the music we liked so we didn’t really think about doing something particularly traditional. We heard something interesting and wanted to do something with it, then it lead on to the next sound that interested us so we thought we should do something with this one as well. That’s how we work. I think that’s why people like our music instead of feeling alienated by it because we enjoyed making it so that people can enjoy listening to it.

Q: What was American tour like?
AUX: When we were rehearsing at the Kennedy center, I realized that Korean instruments were a difficult challenge for western music engineers and audiences to understand because they didn’t have any information or experience regarding Korean instruments. We had Korean American audiences but also had other Americans in the audience and I felt a bit disappointed that I couldn’t really interact with the audience entirely because I wasn’t sure whether our music was interesting or even enjoyable to them or not.

By John Glynn
In a mere 24 hours, it racked up roughly 20 million hits, pulverizing the previous record for single-day views of 8 million, set by teenage sensation Justin Bieber’s Boyfriend video.

The viewer is introduced to PSY, pimped out, wearing his signature sunglasses, dancing at a range of locations in and around Seoul, from high-end clothing stores to a swanky swimming pool. Yes, you got it, I am of course talking about the epic video for Gangnam Style, and in particular PSY’s unmistakeable horse-riding dance, the rather simple exercise that pushed him to global stardom.

A comical look at the luxury lifestyle of Seoul’s upscale Gangnam district, it has become the most-viewed YouTube video of all time, with well over 1.5 billion views since it debuted almost 10 months ago Seriously, how can anyone be expected to follow 1.5 billion YouTube hits, PSY included?

Outside of Korea, the 35 year old now faces exactly the same problem once faced by the makers of the Macarena and LMFAO, the architects of Party Rock. It’s difficult to make a novelty record that really captures the imagination of the public, but it’s considerably harder to follow it up. If your accomplishments are measured by novelty, what do you do when the novelty’s worn off? After the unparalleled success of Gangnam Style and its phenomenal global impact, the chubby rapper/singer/“dance-extraordinaire” has recently released Gentleman.

Undoubtedly, the beat is certain to make it a dance-floor hit this summer. However, one cannot argue this fact, it is definitely missing that humorous social commentary and self-deprecating humor that made PSY’s debut hit so popular. Barely seven hours online, it racked up more than 250,000 views, so maybe he is on course to smash his previous YouTube record. Sadly, in addition to online views, it’s also racking up plenty of unenthusiastic reviews, and PSY recognizes he’s fighting an uphill battle.“Many expressed disappointment, saying I made too many calculations and I should have remade some of the songs I did in the past. But this is the best song, best work and the best choice I could possibly do,” PSY told South Korean interviewers.

However, the song certainly has an element of fun, that is if you can stand the beat of cheesy electro-pop music. Indisputably catchy, it is definitely a stronger song than its predecessor. Its upbeat tempo and looping keyboard melody will have you swinging your hips and nodding your head for almost 4 minutes. The video is pretty decent — showing PSY as an insensitive boyfriend, a man who loves to pull chairs out for his date, only to let them fall flat on their backside — charming.

That handsome devil with the bowl haircut in the yellow suit is back, and PSY’s stage presence is as solid as ever. He’s even thrown us Western folks a generous helping of English lyrics. Yet, sadly, PSY is not breaking any new ground with Gentleman. While it doesn’t exactly fall into the usual novelty-single-follow-up trap of sounding like its forerunner, Gentleman does sound like a pretty standard-issue pop-dance single: rave-alicious synthesisers, a thumping house beat, lyrics about making you palpitate and how a certain girl is “so freakin’ sexy”.

With that being said, on the evidence of Gangnam Style, Gentleman may yet turn out to be some sort of parody on dishonesty and corruption among South Korea’s industrial tycoons. I must say this; the nail in the coffin for me is when Psy picks his bum. Come on, nobody needs to see that, not even the North Korean leader.