NORAE – Willows became the thread and a nightingale became the shuttle

Time stands still in Gagok, the traditional vocal music of Korean courtyards. These poems are sung in such a way that individual syllables are lengthened until the words can no longer be distinguished. When a single beat lasts 20 seconds, the text becomes sound material and the music concentrates on vocal expression. In her performance “Willows became the thread and a nightingale became the shuttle”, the visual artist yeesookyung takes on this reduction of tone to their essence and transfers them onto space and lighting. For Minhee Park’s songs, she creates a timeless, limitless space, a cone of light in the darkness of the stage. In this diffuse white light, sitting motionless on the floor, the Korean vocalist appears lost in a reverie, as if she were floating. In this de-individualized pose, she assimilates herself in a visual and vocal renunciation of meaning. Art and music melt into a sheer, essentially timeless experience.