Beyond the Stars Lies Forever: A Portrait of Girls’ Generation for Their 9th Anniversary

Before technology like satellites and GPS navigation, and especially before the compass application that now comes on most smartphones, ancient sailors used astrolabes to navigate the blackest of oceans. These instruments were incredibly complex, made of material heavy enough to resist sliding along a jerking ship deck, and constructed to show location based on angles etched ever so carefully around the ring of the main body. Using an astrolabe required a steady hand, a sharp eye, and a quick mind, all to steer ships safely into worlds both new and old.

Hundreds of years later, Girls’ Generation came along on one particular summer day, daring to sail where no one else had ever thought to go.
Hallyu is not a wave that can be rendered safe by a flimsy flotation device, nor by a sturdy lifeboat. Drowning in it is far too easy, so to even attempt to swim with it is a daunting challenge, at best. And yet, this particular group of girls — small in age but big in dreams — decided to set off to sea: sails completely unfurled and spyglasses pointed towards the barest horizon, where the ocean finally meets the sky.

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