Korean language

Curve

Curve is a team consisting of Sieun Jo (School of Visual Arts), Hyerin Yu (School of Film, TV&Multimedia), Jaeyoon Lee (School of Drama), Jungmin Hwang (School of Drama), Yunjoong Hwang, Hyungjin Kim, and Joowon Ha. Under the slogan of “Language Research Team from the Moon,” they study multidisciplinary methods of communication within the arts, sharing and invading their areas and intersecting their roles across dance, music, acting, multimedia and visual design.

In this project, they presented Samgando as a work to find mutual compatibility between various art forms including space and movement performance. Samgan refers to human, time, and space, and 圖 (picture) is similar to the letter “몸” in Hangeul, so it means a project that captures the appearance of modern Korea together with the human body.

「Samgando (三間圖)」

'Samgan' of Curve represents three aspects: humanity (人間), time (時間), and space (空間). The character 圖 (meaning 'picture') is similar in appearance to the Korean letter '몸' (body) and signifies a project that explores the contemporary appearance of Korea in conjunction with the human body.
Words, images, and sound vividly capture the changes of the times.
The Samgando project began as an attempt to encapsulate the multitude of texts and images within modern Korean history, exploring the eras they represented, and delving into the influence they had on people's lives. This endeavor sought to bring together these aspects and present them as a single performance.
'Samgando' incorporates graphic design elements from an old Korean folk painting style known as '문자도(character painting)' and combines them with sound and performance. It aimed to break the boundaries of traditional, abstract, and non-verbal expressions in music and performance. By utilizing text and images for active message delivery and enhancing communication with the audience, it sought to present the changes in our modern history through various eras, text, images, sound, and performance.

Samgando; Yeokma (驛馬)

The literal meaning of 'Yeokma' is "a bad luck of constantly rushing around in haste." However, in contemporary society, 'Yeokma' is no longer solely seen as a negative term and is even regarded as an essential concept in some respects. In modern society, 'Yeokma' extends beyond mere physical wandering and holds a significant mental connotation. Today's 'Yeokma' involves searching for individual meaning and purpose, a new form of wandering. Throughout the past 70 years of Korean history, the nation has faced and opposed numerous forms of power and ideologies, which has contributed to the development of a unique 'Yeokma' specific to Korea. Korean society tends to adopt a passive 'Yeokma' in which individuals don't search for their own values and often adhere to societal standards of happiness defined by external forces. The 'tilting phenomenon,' a characteristic example, illustrates this trend. Many individuals, lack of self-determination in life, recklessly pursue the standards of happiness defined by others, which has had to a competitive society. Amidst this social context, a growing number of people have shown interest in exploring the fundamental questions of 'Why do we live?' 'What is happiness?' and 'What is the value of life?' from a humanistic perspective.
The performance 'Samgando; Yeokma' aims to portray this aspect of Korean 'Yeokma.' From the post-liberation period to the present day, we intend to raise questions about the society we have built, the present we live in, and the future that awaits us.
The most challenging part of the project was collaborating on different mediums and coming together as a team. It was daunting to determine where to start, which part to proceed with first, what story to tell, and, in fact, everything felt overwhelming at the beginning. There were many disagreements and conflicts during the process. However, we took a pause from the project and discussed extensively the fundamental message of our performance, what story we wanted to convey to the audience, and each team member's thoughts on this topic. Only after having thorough discussions and clear communication about our intentions and the message we wanted to convey in the performance, we gained confidence that, in whatever form the performance took, it would effectively convey the message. As we trusted each other in our respective roles, the project progressed more smoothly. Deciding which part to lead first was the most challenging aspect. Initially, we created the performance and then developed the video and sound accordingly. However, during the mid-performance revision process, we realized that graphics in the video were challenging to modify, because While the performance is easy to improvise and change on the fly, the visuals and sound require an entire timeline to change in the middle and take a long time to render. Ultimately, we found it more efficient to establish a broad storyline first and then shape the video and music accordingly. In the end, we were all satisfied with the final performance. Although there were regrets about the outcome, it was a project where the process itself held greater value, and in that sense, all team members were content. It seems that we have learned a lot from the project's intense and passionate journey.
We realized that over 80% of the effort was spent on coordinating practical aspects. In the initial project draft, we wanted to showcase interactive movements using 3D mapping videos with objects, not just videos as a background for the performance. In addition, it's true that there were many regrets due to factors like the venue's environment, budget constraints, and technical challenges. Nevertheless, during this project, we had the opportunity to learn a great deal about the performing arts field. We re-learned the importance of detailed and solid planning, following the prescribed script.
The format of a performance has the advantage of synergizing various different mediums to maximize their effects. Due to its characteristics as convergence arts, the audience can have a multi-sensory experience. In other words, the audience can receive a strong message in a relatively short time. We believe it's a challenging endeavor, but it's a field with great potential for growth in line with the times ahead.

Report abuse