Oh Kyung Jang
OKJ
Oh Kyung Jang
Artist:
Main Theme
Performance Art
Year
2023
2022.08.24(Wed)-09.03(Sat)
4th: Parte 1_Inizio Rizomatico
My vision for the world have been fractured in parts. There had been many barriers that separated its boundaries, thus its functions. But isn’t this a tilted vision of a bipedal being whose life is controlled by brain?
Where do I get ‘a sense of where I am’, so that I understand ‘who I am’? In these questions, sensuality of physical being tickles the hidden layers that have absorbed the essence of the world. Where the superior voice grilled me to explain myself, I got scared and failed to give a word.
But when I fumble the ground, the connection sprouts. The particles of soil whispers. I find a spot to root my trust, going deeper and expanding in all directions.
While I danced in darkness for countless nights, I witnessed its trace over a night.
All Projects
‘A firm ground to stand on.’ It’s a phrase I’ve murmured occasionally.
I needed something to hold on to, something that I can trust that it will be there when I visit them again. It’s a metaphysical metaphor to express sorrow I had confronted when nothing is eternal.
Yet, what I really meant was a verbal promise that I can count on that I can trust you. The identity of “you” was never specified, nevertheless, I insisted that this being speak up for me.
How can I occupy ‘a state of mind’ haunted by fear of loss? Loss comes from distrust, one that has emerged from neglect. Yet again, I fiddle, then I fumble.
When the layers were taken off, what’s left was bare ground touching my skin. First, it contacts with my feet.
Then, as I move around and my body loosens. It changes its posture, getting closer to the ground or expend my limbs to hug the air. When I found the anchor to the ground, my body relieved.
I felt free.
When I think of sexuality, imagery of nature always comes up. Fresh gentle breeze, a stream of water, silky green grass and flamboyant colors of flowers are few of them.
Freshness and calmness in nature was another form of arousal for me. Yet, what I felt from nature was a far from what it really was. Nature is a battlefield for survival and each form of life compete with one another to protect itself. Nonetheless, they also live in harmony, learning and adapting to collaborate and co-exist. The mode of existence was ‘arousal’ for my sense of being.
As fundamental as our very existence, I saw sexuality as a root for us to bloom with life. I searched for root-like endeavors to complete my search for sexuality.
I see sexuality as an essential part of being a human that deserves attention and nurturing. Nevertheless, the images and messages tangled with sexuality is often tainted by misogyny and capitalism. The world is like the dim underground. In order to find a way to pave, I carefully senses the surroundings and expand my roots.
‘A Tree Soaked in Water’ is a performance series that captures one’s journey to discover fluid and transformative nature of sexual identity. Drawing a connection between the life cycle of a tree to the journey of discovering one’s sexual identity, the 4th chapter of the work is called ‘rhizomic beginning’, capturing the metaphoric action of the journey.
The work focuses on the space where the ‘rhizomic begining’ takes place - soils, seeing them as a playground and dwelling space for life. This performance draws a new image of the journey of exploring sexuality by interpreting the soil, which is dismissed as ‘dust’, as a house of abundance with fluidity and transformation.
< A Tree Soaked in Water IV_ part1. Rhizomic Beginning >
