Miru Kim - Urban Explorer

[avadavat]

I knew about urban explorers who go where they're not supposed to go in cities: visiting abandoned, decaying buildings and underground tunnels, but I had no idea that a pretty Korean girl would be so bold like Miru Kim. After reading about her in the NYTimes I still can't believe it. Brave, reckless guys doing this, I can believe, but the stereotypical Asian girl doesn't even like rain. Miru tiptoes through sewer pipes and industrial relics with who knows what underfoot? Her main sites are in NYC but she's also been to Europe. Know any Koreans like her, drilla? Anyways, enough talk, here's the article, her website, and the pictures...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/nyregion/thecity/29shad.html
http://www.mirukim.com
http://www.mirukim.com/nakedcityspleen/thesis.html

and did I mention that she poses in the underground cities nude? ...thought you might like to know that :whistle:

her series is called "Naked City Spleen"

she has prints for sale: info (at) nakedcityarts.com or 917.399.8668

Old Aquaduct 1,2
Sugar Factory Revisited 3,4
Nursing Home

[avadavat]

an explorer would be remiss not to check out the French Underground and the catacombs~

you're my hero, Miru Kim!

Bunker Alleman 1-3
Abri Laval 4-5

[avadavat]

absolutely fearless!

not only is she unafraid of the scariness of creepy-crawly places, but she poses there in the buff? mind-boggling!

Cables 1-2
Salle Z 3-5

[avadavat]

one time underground, Miru had just removed her clothes when a bum had emerged from whichever grotto he was living in...but Miru wasn't scared - she finished taking the picture :whistle:

long staircase 1-2
X-Ray 3-4
Ossuaire 5

[avadavat]

I wouldn't be walking around on old bones or hypodermic needles or whatever my active imagination could dream up - Miru doesn't care about all of those things...she does it for art, and she probably likes that adrenaline/exhibitionist feeling - I'll have to read her Naked City Spleen thesis to find out how she can do these crazy things~

Ossuaire 1-2
flooded 3-5

[avadavat]

Miru said she didn't have anyone to pose for her underground photos so she decided to be her own model. I think she made the right decision~

cemetery stairway 1-3
Zlard 4-5

[avadavat]

I've never been to France's catacombs, but I know a tour guide I'd like to go with!

castle 1
ceramic 2
stalagmite 3
St Jacques 4
Pinton 5

[avadavat]

what mode of transportation does Miru prefer? The subway, of course!

Pinton 1
stm 2-5

[avadavat]

now we're going to Germany. Miru's website says that one of her picture groups, the one called "Rohrpost" could not be shown - she was forbidden to publish those photos. does anyone from Europe know what that place is? It sounds German. I searched for Rohrpost and Miru and came up with this forum called "Wilkanoid-Board" - I don't know what that means either...Arragon can you help? Her name is mentioned in a big yellow box about 2/3 down the page - is it a group of European urban explorers?
http://www.mirukim.com/nakedcityspleen/rohrpost/
http://wilkanoid.de/thread.php?postid=16695

update: I learned from the google translator and this page
http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/COMMS/pneumess/pneumess.htm
that Rohrpost means a system of pneumatic tubes for delivering things - like they used to do at the bank to deliver your papers to the teller when you're in the car. Some cities built extensive networks of "Rohrposts" - including Berlin & Prague (and the Prague system is still in use except for some flood damage) - so my guess is that Miru explored the underground pneumatic tubes in one of these cities. I wonder why she can't post the pictures?

stm 1
hangard y 2
paris railroad 3
SI railroad 4
Wiesenberg 5

[Shooter]

To think that soemone took three of my favorite things in this world; undergound cities, naked women, and Korean girls and rolled them all up into one. I feel like I'm trapped in the Matrix and someone is feeding my fantasies back into my head.

[avadavat]

I see Miru has got Shooter's attention!

Let's continue with Miru somewhere in what seems like Germany - is there a place called Wiesenberg there? it looks very claustrophobic~!

Miru attended Columbia University in New York City and that's one of the first places where she discovered the underground, specifically the tunnels where they run utilities. She and some other explorers found a room deep in the basement of Columbia U where scientists once did experiments for the Manhattan Project!

Wiesenberg 1-3
Boxhagener 4
CU Tunnels 5

[avadavat]

the juxtaposition of such a clean and perfect body in these dank and dirty underground nooks and crannies particularly strikes me. Miru removes her clothes only at the last moment when she sets the camera timer - her skin stays a lot cleaner that way - cobwebs, creepy crawly things, drips from the ceiling - yuck!

Columbia University tunnels 1-5

[avadavat]

Graffiti on the walls is always a good sign for urban explorers because it shows someone else has been to this forgotten place before and it can be accessed - this image of Miru walking along the tracks is going to haunt me like a ghost~

'Luv' Tunnel 1
Children's Hospital 2-3
GTW 4
Insane Asylum 5

[avadavat]

I wouldn't want to spend much time in an old Insane Asylum - freaks me out!

Miru has a ticket for the subway~

her Sugar Factory series is one of her best :whistle:

Insane Asylum 1
Subway Station 2-4
Sugar Factory 5

[jo-jums]

Hey, she's the nude Kelly Choi!

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycmg/nyctv/html/history_culture/sony.shtml

[avadavat]

let's play the game of Find Miru in the Sugar Factory!

the juxtaposition of dilapidated concrete and steel structures with pure Asian flesh is so tantalizing to me! :whistle:

she does some camera tricks with time-lapse photography to add to the ghostly element of the imagery~

Sugar Factory 1-5

[avadavat]

I can't imagine stepping over broken glass and metal shards in bare feet - Miru's recklessness attracts me on multiple levels :whistle:

it looks like she wants to do some tests in the sugar laboratory~

Sugar Factory 1-5

[avadavat]

I love the contrast of hulking relics of the past and a beautiful living Asian girl. Normally you wouldn't find such girls hanging around in the Ship Graveyard - only in my Miru dreams~ :whistle:

pictures 1 & 2 are of Miru the Office Lady like you've never seen before - post-Apocalyptic, perhaps...

Sugar Factory 1-2
Ship Graveyard 3-5

[avadavat]

finishing up with Miru in the Ship Graveyard

climbing old engine shafts and gears

hanging out with rusting hulks

climbing out of a hole in the deck
bunking up in the crew's quarters - are you serious? :oy:
Ship Graveyard 1-4

[avadavat]

now it's time to delve into the pictures from the NYTimes article's audio commentary about Miru and her cohorts called The Shadow City

we've got bigger pictures from Miru's website, various artsy shots of the underground taken by her infiltrating pals, and a NYTimes photographer following Miru into the bowels of Columbia University :whistle:

she looks like a cat on the prowl!

[avadavat]

Miru's friend Steve Duncan

Miru at the steam tunnel entrance at Columbia U. - god, what a hottie! :love:
on the train tracks

some of Miru's friend Joe's finds from urban exploring

[avadavat]

Miru's friend Steve in Brooklyn - I gotta try this exploring stuff - it's probably a blast to go where you're not allowed!

more Miru in the raw - lovely girl - thankfully she's an expert with the automatic timer on her camera

[wemic]

God...I hope her tetanus shots are up-to-date!

[avadavat]

anybody feeling claustrophobic? I'm interested in water tunnels, but I'm not sure I want to get this close to one...

nothing toxic here!

I love this Miru picture - she looks so composed and contented even though she's leaning over the precipice high up in the Sugar Factory and probably no one will hear her if she falls - so vulnerable and so brave :whistle:
an unusual venue for strutting on the catwalk~

I'm reminded of the weird characters from Six Feet Under - this girl is lollygagging in the freaking crematorium :hero:

[avadavat]

some new Miru's and some old, but enlarged:

this place doesn't look safe at all - I guess I'm not surprised she's hanging out here in the buff~

striking a pose damp depths of some forgotten tunnel in Berlin - so artsy!

what an amazing woman! with the time she spends in old ruins we might think she's a vagrant~

plenty of space to squeeze this lovely naked body into here :love:

Miru prowling Columbia's underground

if you like Miru's pictures so far, let me remind you that she has written an account of her underground explorations on her website and a link is posted in the first post of this thread. it's quite interesting to learn about her run-ins with bums and her inspirations for these exciting adventures

[avadavat]

update!

Miru Kim has a video of her poking around in the dark catacombs, and fleeting glimpses of her running butt-naked into the shadows. It's kinda spooky. Is she scared or doing the scaring? Doesn't really matter. Not bad for an amateur short film. Ambiguity makes it more interesting.

http://www.mirukim.com/film/catacombweb.mov

plays in Quicktime

for more text and picture magazine articles profiling her, check out her press page:
http://www.mirukim.com/press.html

[manusiax]

oh... many thanks... i love this :)

thank u...

[bnther37]

This was very entertaining. I would love to see more videos like this.

Thanks.

:nice:

[avadavat]

time for a Miru Kim update!

she's still doing her naked exploring and now that I have some money, maybe I'll buy some of her prints. It would be cool if she gave guided tours of this industrial netherworld she knows so well.

I'll add a few pictures from her updated website, but what I'm more eager to present is her talk at the TED conference (see the thread I just started on TED talks). She's made it to the big leagues now that she's a TED speaker. Her work isn't just cool and incredibly hot with all her brave nakedness - it's art!

Miru Kim's Underground at the TED conference:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/miru_kim_s_underground_art.html

her picture website:
http://www.mirukim.com/nakedcityspleen/index.html

1 Bennett School, Milbrook, NY
2, 3 Rohrpost, Berlin
4 River Tyburn (sewer), London
5 Carriere, St. Germain-en-Laye

[avadavat]

more Miru :whistle:

I'll see about getting some screencaps up from that TED talk - she sure is hot in person, and when she's not in some dank underground dungeon - and the audience loves her!

naked pictures:
1 Ruinas de Copan, Honduras
2 Farm Colony, NY
3 Glenwood, Yonkers, NY
4, 5 Richmond Power, Philadelphia, PA