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Young In Hong: a new commission at the ICA for fig-2

Korean artist Young In Hong is the 6th artist in fig-2, an artistic relay event at the ICA. According to their website,

fig-2 is a revival of fig-1, which presented 50 exhibitions in 50 weeks. fig-1 was conceived and developed by Mark Francis and Jay Jopling in 2000.

Fifteen years later, fig-2 brings together a programme that is driven by the radical imagination of artists, writers, dancers, architects, and designers. fig-2 is curated by Fatoş Üstek. Jessica Temple and Ben Wadler are assistant curators, and Irene Altaió is project assistant.

Here’s the information they have posted about Young In Hong’s week. Note that there are two evening performances, one of which is followed by a Q&A and needs pre-booking.

Young In Hong, fig-2, 6/50

9 – 15 Feb 2015
ICA Studio, Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH
Opening: Monday 9 Feb, 6 – 8pm
Performances: Monday 9 Feb & Thursday 12 Feb, 7.00 – 7.25 pm
Note that the Monday evening opening event is accessed via the ramp entrance in Carlton House Terrace at the back of the ICA.

Hong Young-in: In Her Dream (2015)
Hong Young-in: In Her Dream (2015)

Young In Hong’s new commission for fig-2 takes place at the ICA Studio and ICA Theatre. Hong’s piece will be the first of four commissions that will activate the ICA Theatre, where the performance will then feed back to the installation at the ICA Studio.‘In Her Dream’, introduces a new breath of interest to the production of a performance with Baroque elements, staging its production of drama, tension, exuberance within the frame of Korean ethnicity and folkloric tradition. Hong’s detailed study of induced violence and isolation in the everyday lives of women from various countries of affiliation comes forth in the form of a performance. Please book your tickets for the Thursday performance here. This will be followed by a Q&A with fig-2 curator Fatos Üstek and the artist Young In Hong.

About Young In Hong’s work

On a dark evening, Ann (26, a night worker), Una (22, a jobseeker and a single mum), Jin (31, job unknown) and Elvire (26, a migrant worker, nanny) are having a dinner party. It is not clear whether this is a dream or a real setting. As the party progresses, Ann, Una and Elvire become increasingly drunk and start behaving wildly. They intimidate Jin who finds herself isolated and unable to communicate with the others. She slips away in the middle of the dinner, finding herself left out, starts to talk to herself. This is how her secret starts to unfold.

Hong’s ‘In Her Dream’, is a production of drama, tension and exuberance with a Baroque aesthetic, in the frame of Korean ethnicity and folkloric tradition. Hong’s take on shamanism, Korean Shamanistic production of ritual, and exhilaration coalesced with the expression of unjust behaviourism in a repressively built society, focuses on the production of women’s position within.

Hong’s detailed study of induced violence and isolation in the everyday lives of women from various countries of affiliation comes forth in the form of a work of art. Four dancers, and two musicians activate the space of the performance that concentrates on two stages of being, among a community and in confinement. The choreography, built on extensive research on archival imagery of social change is brought to light by sounds and movement only.

The confluence of baroque aesthetics with Korean Shaman music find form in ‘In Her Dream’, inviting the audience to a journey of broken words, uncanny encounters of a tainted narrative.

‘In Her Dream’ is realised in collaboration with Delfina Foundation and Korean Cultural Centre UK.

Collaborators: Zosia Jagodzinska, Cello & Vocal | Jeung-Hyun Choi, Korean Drum & Vocal | Sarah Louise Kristiansen, Choreography | Eleanor Sikorski, Choreography, Dance & Vocal | Wen-Chi Su, Dance | Aimee Bevan, Dance | Ughetta Pratesi, Dance

Costume fittings by London Fitting Rooms. Film by Smithson Images, Director William Smith, cameramen Ben Williams and Johnny Adair. Furniture fabrication by Goldfinger Factory. With thanks to Hye Eun Kim and Nagyum Han.

(automatically generated) Read LKL’s review of this event here.