Making
eedophone
2026
[eedophone]
I made a string instrument and named it “eedophone.”
The name combines 'ee' (이), the Korean word for “teeth/tooth” and 'do' (도), from 'jeondo' (전도 傳導), meaning “conduction.” It is inspired by the concepts of bone conduction and idiophones, bringing together the ideas of teeth, bodily vibration, conduction, and sound.
When I play the eedophone, I imagine the Wonhwa. The Wonhwa were a group of women in Silla who preceded the Hwarang and were part of an early system for selecting and cultivating talented young people. For generations, people on the Korean Peninsula have been skilled archers.
I used gayageum strings.
☞ archive video
I made a string instrument and named it “eedophone.”
The name combines 'ee' (이), the Korean word for “teeth/tooth” and 'do' (도), from 'jeondo' (전도 傳導), meaning “conduction.” It is inspired by the concepts of bone conduction and idiophones, bringing together the ideas of teeth, bodily vibration, conduction, and sound.
When I play the eedophone, I imagine the Wonhwa. The Wonhwa were a group of women in Silla who preceded the Hwarang and were part of an early system for selecting and cultivating talented young people. For generations, people on the Korean Peninsula have been skilled archers.
I used gayageum strings.
☞ archive video
Making
Pungmul Chabi 風物差備
2022
[Pungmul Chabi 風物差備]
The Gayageum is a Korean zither string instrument. When exposed to the breeze from an electric fan, its strings resonate and produce sound. Though calm and composed on the outside, the many sounds emerging from within evoke the inner lives of women in the past.
“Pungmul Chabi” refers to female musicians who performed in spaces off-limits to men during the Joseon Dynasty. Here, “pung” means “wind,” and “mul” means “object.” Additionally, “pung” can mean “music,” so “pungmul” refers to musical instruments.
I view the [Pungmul Chabi] I created as something akin to an automatic musical instrument.
☞ archive video
The Gayageum is a Korean zither string instrument. When exposed to the breeze from an electric fan, its strings resonate and produce sound. Though calm and composed on the outside, the many sounds emerging from within evoke the inner lives of women in the past.
“Pungmul Chabi” refers to female musicians who performed in spaces off-limits to men during the Joseon Dynasty. Here, “pung” means “wind,” and “mul” means “object.” Additionally, “pung” can mean “music,” so “pungmul” refers to musical instruments.
I view the [Pungmul Chabi] I created as something akin to an automatic musical instrument.
☞ archive video
Sound
Specter-Tradition
2026
<Specter-Tradition>
<Specter-Tradition> is a 12-minute reworking of a 3-minute sound piece originally created for the 2020 STEP by SPAF performance {Conditions of Tradition} by the collaborative performance group “Project.Gaeng.”
Project.Gaeng is a collaborative team centered around four members: director and performer Kim Ki-young, and performers Kim Hae-min, Im Dong-sik, and Jo Seon-ah (myself).
2018–2021 {Streets and the Crow}, which explored how tradition exists and functions within a modern social context through street performances throughout the city
2019–2020 {Conditions of Tradition}, which presented the sociocultural conditions underpinning modern Korean tradition—as researched by a professional performing artist—through exhibitions and documentary theater
{Streets and the Crow} and {Conditions of Tradition} are projects directly related to [Spectre-Tradition]. The sound sources included field recordings from the performance {Streets and the Crow}, sounds used in that performance, sounds and research materials from the performance {Conditions of Tradition}, and a live recording of the performance {Chaosmos Rhythm Chaosmos}.
By altering the timing and pitch of the sounds, I sought to evoke an image of tradition—ghostlike, having neither lived nor died—through the sensation of distorted sound. I used panning to convey the sense of the street parade in motion, delay to create an echo that reverberates hollowly, and human speech (in Korean) to suggest the discourse surrounding tradition or the feeling of various voices floating in the air.
☞ video
☞ sound
<Specter-Tradition> is a 12-minute reworking of a 3-minute sound piece originally created for the 2020 STEP by SPAF performance {Conditions of Tradition} by the collaborative performance group “Project.Gaeng.”
Project.Gaeng is a collaborative team centered around four members: director and performer Kim Ki-young, and performers Kim Hae-min, Im Dong-sik, and Jo Seon-ah (myself).
2018–2021 {Streets and the Crow}, which explored how tradition exists and functions within a modern social context through street performances throughout the city
2019–2020 {Conditions of Tradition}, which presented the sociocultural conditions underpinning modern Korean tradition—as researched by a professional performing artist—through exhibitions and documentary theater
{Streets and the Crow} and {Conditions of Tradition} are projects directly related to [Spectre-Tradition]. The sound sources included field recordings from the performance {Streets and the Crow}, sounds used in that performance, sounds and research materials from the performance {Conditions of Tradition}, and a live recording of the performance {Chaosmos Rhythm Chaosmos}.
By altering the timing and pitch of the sounds, I sought to evoke an image of tradition—ghostlike, having neither lived nor died—through the sensation of distorted sound. I used panning to convey the sense of the street parade in motion, delay to create an echo that reverberates hollowly, and human speech (in Korean) to suggest the discourse surrounding tradition or the feeling of various voices floating in the air.
☞ video
☞ sound
Video
How to play the Traditional Gayageum
2019
<How to play the Traditional Gayageum>
Part 5 [representation-tradition]⠀
How do the norms governing women’s bodies reproduce traditional aesthetic values? <How to Play the Traditional Gayageum> focuses on the phenomenon of traditional beauty being reenacted through female performers. She is the body that reenacts the aesthetic values of tradition that must be preserved. The logic of patriarchy genderizes and hierarchically reproduces the dual mission of tradition.
1. Apply makeup neatly
2. Use gel to create a 5:5 part
3. Attach the side bun and insert a hairpin
4. Put on an underskirt, then put on the hanbok skirt and jacket
5. Oh, put on the traditional socks
6. Hold the gayageum so the front is visible, hold the skirt with your other hand, and enter the stage
7. Set down the gayageum and spread the skirt out in a circle
8. Straighten the sash
9. Bring your hands together with your right hand on top, count “one, two, three” as you lower them, then count “one, two, three” as you raise them
10. Hold the gayageum so the front is visible, hold the skirt with your other hand, and exit
☞ video
Conditions of Tradition (2019–20) was a research-based exhibition and performance project that examined how tradition is constructed and sustained in contemporary society. Rather than treating tradition as a fixed entity, the project approached it as a practice shaped by multiple historical, social, and institutional conditions, critically investigating the structures that produce and reproduce traditional arts.
My contribution focused on Representation-Tradition, exploring how the bodies of female performers function as sites through which traditional aesthetics and cultural norms are enacted and maintained. This research was presented through the exhibition work How to Play the Traditional Gayageum.
The project became an important starting point for my ongoing interest in the body, femininity, gisaeng culture, and the ways traditional arts are embodied, represented, and transmitted. These questions continue to inform my current research on Gyeonggi Japga.
Part 5 [representation-tradition]⠀
How do the norms governing women’s bodies reproduce traditional aesthetic values? <How to Play the Traditional Gayageum> focuses on the phenomenon of traditional beauty being reenacted through female performers. She is the body that reenacts the aesthetic values of tradition that must be preserved. The logic of patriarchy genderizes and hierarchically reproduces the dual mission of tradition.
1. Apply makeup neatly
2. Use gel to create a 5:5 part
3. Attach the side bun and insert a hairpin
4. Put on an underskirt, then put on the hanbok skirt and jacket
5. Oh, put on the traditional socks
6. Hold the gayageum so the front is visible, hold the skirt with your other hand, and enter the stage
7. Set down the gayageum and spread the skirt out in a circle
8. Straighten the sash
9. Bring your hands together with your right hand on top, count “one, two, three” as you lower them, then count “one, two, three” as you raise them
10. Hold the gayageum so the front is visible, hold the skirt with your other hand, and exit
☞ video
Conditions of Tradition (2019–20) was a research-based exhibition and performance project that examined how tradition is constructed and sustained in contemporary society. Rather than treating tradition as a fixed entity, the project approached it as a practice shaped by multiple historical, social, and institutional conditions, critically investigating the structures that produce and reproduce traditional arts.
My contribution focused on Representation-Tradition, exploring how the bodies of female performers function as sites through which traditional aesthetics and cultural norms are enacted and maintained. This research was presented through the exhibition work How to Play the Traditional Gayageum.
The project became an important starting point for my ongoing interest in the body, femininity, gisaeng culture, and the ways traditional arts are embodied, represented, and transmitted. These questions continue to inform my current research on Gyeonggi Japga.
Performance
Dear Rainbow Deer
2026
【Dear Rainbow Deer】
This work is about memory. From August 13 to 31, 2026, we lived together. We taught each other songs, shared tongue twisters from our respective countries, swam together, played ping-pong, ate ice cream, made a desert and sang a song together for someone’s mother on her birthday.
Knowing that once we part ways, we may never meet again, we immerse ourselves in memories even before saying goodbye.
I created a guide track using sounds I had recorded over time. Two other members, who enjoyed recording in their daily lives, also recorded on stage. One of them connected their recording to an amplifier and played it back live.
Sharing Ice cream, Drawing
Nikki
Tongue Twister
Chanan Ben Simon, Ghazar Teknejyan
Habbit Word
Bonita Oliver, Leah King (+baking),
Ignat Khlobystin (+Beat Box), Miles Jefferson Friday
Playing Ping-Pong
Francesca Naibo, Christina Fuchs
Playing ShaKuhachi
Jeffrey Lependorf
Recording
Santiago Botero, Huichun Yang (Live)
☞ performance documentat
☞ guide sound
☞ score
This work is about memory. From August 13 to 31, 2026, we lived together. We taught each other songs, shared tongue twisters from our respective countries, swam together, played ping-pong, ate ice cream, made a desert and sang a song together for someone’s mother on her birthday.
Knowing that once we part ways, we may never meet again, we immerse ourselves in memories even before saying goodbye.
I created a guide track using sounds I had recorded over time. Two other members, who enjoyed recording in their daily lives, also recorded on stage. One of them connected their recording to an amplifier and played it back live.
Sharing Ice cream, Drawing
Nikki
Tongue Twister
Chanan Ben Simon, Ghazar Teknejyan
Habbit Word
Bonita Oliver, Leah King (+baking),
Ignat Khlobystin (+Beat Box), Miles Jefferson Friday
Playing Ping-Pong
Francesca Naibo, Christina Fuchs
Playing ShaKuhachi
Jeffrey Lependorf
Recording
Santiago Botero, Huichun Yang (Live)
☞ performance documentat
☞ guide sound
☞ score