Yeji Yeon
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PROJECT DESCRIPTION
煞 [Saal]- meaning ‘evil energy’- is a ritualistic word in Korea: a collective term for spirits behind the calamaties that humans face. Through offerings of dance and music, a mortal pleads for an appeasement with the higher realm in efforts to null its devastating effect.
Yeji Yeon’s dance film, [Saal] is a moving meditation: an act of prayer- a ritual through a metropolis. The contemplative movements portray the essence of supplication, whilst the soundscape reflects the collective unconsciousness accessed through her own dreams: a distorted recording of her dream journals collected during the outbreaks of COVID-19.
SOUTH KOREA | DANCER & FILMMAKER
Yeji Yeon is an inter-disciplinary artist of visual and performing arts. Focusing on multifaceted alchemy between dance, theatre, music and cinema- her artistic direction is to merge the boundaries between genres as well as the artistic identities within herself. She was trained primarily in classical singing and ballet- later in theatre acting. She is both the creator and the subject of her work: a producer, a director and a performer with recurring thematic exploration into shamanism, spirituality and self-transformation.
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煞 [Saal]- Is a moving meditation: an act of prayer–a ritual through a metropolis.
Gyeongbokgung, Royal palace of the Joseon dynasty
Korea National University of Arts
Abandoned urban structures in Namyangju
Playground in Namyangju
Playground in Namyangju
Gwanghwamun Square
The Process: Yeji Yeon
In spite of social distancing, we are always in touch though never touching- through hyperspace of the internet externally, and through the hyperspace of dreams, internally. This internal hyperspace can be reached without the dream state- this we call deep meditation, or prayer. In need for release of mental blockage from the currently prevalent sense of disconnection and a lack of significance, I resorted to the nature to dance barefoot. I felt a rush through my body; I was plugged, grounded, and replenished. The true connection is to the nature; to fuse the nature within with without.
The dream is a point of intersection of all souls...
"I came to contemplate upon the word TRANSCENDENCE. To go beyond, to LEAVE the current state; pertained by a sense of metaphysical distance. I interchanged the word DISTANCING from SOCIAL DISTANCING with TRANSCENDENCE; we are collectively experiencing a certain shift in the manner we interact."
“In spite of social distancing, we are always in touch though never touching- through hyperspace of the internet externally, and through the hyperspace of dreams, internally. This internal hyperspace can be reached without the dream state- this we call deep meditation, or prayer.”