Photo by Nam Kiyong, courtesy SeMA

  • SMSM
  • Warning

  • 2019
  • mixed media (adhesive plastic film, paint, hats, jackets, and photocopies) and performance
  • Installation size and performance duration variable; “1. Solve the Problems by Using the Numeric Value Assigned to Each Symbol”, 285.5 × 300 cm; “2. Fill the Blanks to Complete Fruit Names, Based on Given Consonants”, 180.8 × 200 cm; “3. Decode the Cryptograms by Using the Given Cipher”, 180.8 × 200 cm; “4. Pick Two Letters to Make a Word. You Can Repeat the Same Letter”, 300 × 300 cm; “5. Rotate Each Given Word in Your Mind and Write It Down”, 215 × 300 cm

Composed of a set of wall graphics and performance, Warning addresses the popular anxiety about and anticipation for aging. Warning combines witty suggestions for preparing aging, taken from Jenny Joseph’s 1992 eponymous poem, with the so-called Brain Test to Prevent Dementia that has been circulated online. Known to be developed at the Samsung Medical Center and published in Chosun Ilbo in January 2015 and usually introduced with an unfounded claim that “if you solve all the problems, you don’t need to worry about dementia for the next twelve years,” the test has been popular on the internet, spinning off various imitations.

The audience is invited to solve the problems for themselves. If they want to confirm the answers, they can find and ask someone in a purple jacket and a red cap in the exhibition space. Walking around the venue from 1 pm through 5 pm on every Saturday and Sunday, the performer is simply trying to get used to the unusual attire, just like Joseph practicing aging in her poem.

  • Weekend performer:
  • Cha Hyeonjin

Photo: Nam Kiyong, courtesy SeMA

Photo: Nam Kiyong, courtesy SeMA