Operation – For Something Black and Hot
Video, 20 min, 2012
The performance of Okin Collective entitled “Operation–for Something Black and Hot” recalls the nuclear disaster in Fukushima during which the press was controlled and there was a media blackout leading to maximum damage for their citizens. The production of quasi–Chi Gymnastics, based on the motion studies of public drills, was a guide as to what to do during a disaster. The idea was to increase self-defense ability at a time when the government couldn’t protect their people. Okin researched many related official guides. But we were disappointed again by their carelessness and inadequacy–most of them just said repeatedly to calm down; endure; wait; prevention is the best measure; we have to fold a cloth to cover the mouth like a mask sixteen times to prevent hazardous substances from entering; and so on. After all, what Okin choreographed was nothing but a kind of practice on how to make eye contact, to hold your hands with complete strangers, and to depend on each other.
Artists' Bio:
Okin Collective is an artists’ group, which consists of Joungmin Yi, Hwayong Kim, Shiu Jin, named after Okin Apartment complex in Jongnogu, Seoul, where in which the first group project was held.