The stage is a site of human emotion and narrative, where tragedy loops endlessly. It seeps through the cracks of life, quietly fermenting between the absurdity of the everyday and the helplessness of reality.
This exhibition, Actor of Tragedy, explores how individuals confront unspeakable roles, performing through layers of reality and illusion. The characters on stage give their all to embody tragedy-and aren't we, too, participants in this performance? Finding joy in sorrow, carrying out what fate has written?
The absurdity of theatre is a reflection of life itself.
Perhaps we have all been that unclaimed ring toss doll, left behind at the edge of the game. Or those two figures leaning on each other atop a Möbius strip, caught in an endless emotional loop. We try to resist and find balance, only to discover that the struggle itself was part of the script all along.
But if tragedy is inescapable, can its meaning be reimagined?
The audience, seated in the dark, may sigh or wonder: "Why does it always have to be so sorrowful?"
The actor, beneath the spotlight, keeps thinking: "When will humanity stop fearing sadness?"
Actor of Tragedy is both a question and a calling. When we watch a tragedy unfold, are we not also gazing into ourselves?
Special Highlight: The Woman Crying on New Year's Eve
Wearing a ceramic headpiece weighing 8.9 kilograms, the artist joins an event titled Crying While Ringing in the New Year at Daan Forest Park. Through silent gestures, she threads pearls, symbols of tears, interpreting solitude in the midst of celebration. As the countdown begins and the cheers rise, sorrow is drowned out. But beneath the mask, are there emotions left unseen?
This performance probes the coexistence of joy and grief. The weight of the ceramic headpiece becomes a metaphor for how individuals mask sadness in public. When facial expression is frozen, is emotion also trapped? Her silence may reflect countless existences left unacknowledged.
