scenic design fall 2013 portfolio

M i r r o r e dM i r r o r e db y H y e S u n L e eb y H y e S u n L e e

In the musical Man of La Mancha, an old man in the countryside named Alonso reads so many books of classic chivalry and he begins thinking himself a knight of La Mancha, Don Quixote de. Eventually, he sets out on his journey. The knight of mirrors and his party who bear shields with mirrors on them appear in front of Alonso. He faces the truth that he is not Don Quixote but an old man when he sees himself in the mirror.

In the mirror, we can see the truth we have not been able to see in front of us. The truth in the mirror may be the truth that we have passed by without being aware of it or the truth in our minds.

My works are the mirror reflecting the world we belong to and my inner truths.

In the musical Man of La Mancha, an old man in the countryside named Alonso reads so many books of classic chivalry and he begins thinking himself a knight of La Mancha, Don Quixote de. Eventually, he sets out on his journey. The knight of mirrors and his party who bear shields with mirrors on them appear in front of Alonso. He faces the truth that he is not Don Quixote but an old man when he sees himself in the mirror.

In the mirror, we can see the truth we have not been able to see in front of us. The truth in the mirror may be the truth that we have passed by without being aware of it or the truth in our minds.

My works are the mirror reflecting the world we belong to and my inner truths.

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The InfInITe

VoyeurIsm

mass of DIsTorTIon

PerVerTeD symPaThy

VaIn InsIgnIa

The PaPer monsTer

‘mIrroreD me’rehearsal

errors

exTernal Injury

oTher works

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Mirrored THe infiniTeMirrored THe infiniTe1

mIrroreD The InfInITe

1endless spinning mixed media 35 x 25 cm 2012

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mIrroreD The InfInITe 03

Stories on the stage, regardless of genre, are a reflection of our lives which contains a message for us. In the book “You Are Mine” by Max Lucadod also is a portrait of us and sends us a message. In the story, wooden dolls start to have the notion that they must have more toys to be more worthy. The main character Punchinello also sells all of his things in order to buy more toys without under-standing why. They get the idea that the more toys they own, the greater they become. All the dolls begin to compete with one another and sell everything they own in order to gain more toys. This act of repeatedly trying to get more and reach higher social status to fill the endless desire is reflection of our foolishness.

SToTy by Max LucadoScenery by HyeSun, Lee

THe STory

concepT drawinzgS

rendering

mIrroreD The InfInITe 05

In order to show the foolishness, I wanted the stage to help the audience reflect. So I created hills and frames on the stage for this production. To represent how we strive to fulfill our endless desires, dolls repeatedly went up the hill and down the hill and again and again. The purpose of the frame was to represent a portrait of us trapped in this endless cycle of chasing our intangible desires. It was an allusion to show we are constrained to this intangible desire in our society. How endlessly we try to fulfill our greed. To stimulate the audiences and give time to reflect on their hidden memories that are buried very deep within their heart, the hills and frames on upstage got smaller and smaller.

proceSSeS

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You are mine mixed media 50 x 40 cm 2012

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mIrroreD The InfInITe1

Mirrored VoyeuriSM2Mirrored VoyeuriSM

Intro #1 mixed media 45 x 40 cm 2012

pLaying wiTH MirrorS

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mIrroreD VoyeurIsm 13

To me, audience is a big component of a performance and the completeness of the performance depends on their participation. I believe the audience should have a role. Audiences should become actual participants in order to help them get a greater experience of the performances. So, I used visuals to capture their attention. The half-mirror was placed between the mirrors because of duality characteristic. Behind the mirror, they can see me but I can’t see them. The stage was set up to give the feeling that someone was watching or spying; in other words the audience could see everything on the stage but the actors couldn’t see the audience.

As the audience watches the character, the desire of the character becomes theirs. This is context to Lacanian theory of desire. While the audience voyeurs the char-acters on the stage, they also see the audience on the other side. This was to give them the sense that they are looking at reflection of themselves in a mirror. It was to help the audience to see how him or herself get lost in the hunger of desire. The performance was to stimulate the audience as it becomes the ‘object’ which they observe through other people in the audience. The intention was to allow the audience to individually interpret the performance.

concepT drawingS

My THougHTS on audience

mIrroreD VoyeurIsm14

I’ve been watched“

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chacoal on paper 25 x 30 cm 2012

audience View poinT Top rigHT View

Scene# 1.cLaSS

Top rigHT View

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The protagonist in the story is a high school student with a low ego who longs to be like the strong bullies thinking they are cool. As the story continues, the main char-acter becomes one of them. He begins to act and behave like them. He participates and get involve in their activities. He gets lost as he craves to be more like them. As he witnesses the harassments and assaults of weaker students he begins to reflect on his actions. He starts to have remorse and breaks his tides with the gang. He begins on the journey to self-discovery and finding his own ego. To give a greater effect, the mirror was used to create a greater sense of voyeurism. As the audiences voyeur the actors through the mirror they realize the main characters disregard for the weak is a reflection of them. They are able to empathize with the protagonist as he transforms psychologically and his behavior. The free interpretation by the audience is an important component that completes the experience.

Everybody is watching me mixed media 45 x 40 cm 2012

The sTory

Top LefT View

audience View poinT Top rigHT View

Scene# 2. MarkeT

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Scene# 3. ScHooL pLay

audience View poinT

Top View

Scene# 4. riVer Side

rigHT audience View poinT

LefT audience View poinT

arT work

“ Roll all the eyes of voyeurism! ”

mIrroreD VoyeurIsm

: buS STrapS, ceLLpHone, MuffLer, gLoVeS, MirrorS, bookS, HeadpHone, ear pHoneS, gLaSSeS.

ingredienTS

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Voyeurism roll mixed media 35 x 70 cm 2012

1 mIrroreD VoyeurIsm

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Mirrored MaSS of diSTorTion3Mirrored MaSS of diSTorTion

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Like time which absolutely governs our lives, in my work the journal serves to govern the flow of the performers, acting, and performance. In the performance, the journal is made to ruthlessly flip to the next page when the time comes, and with each page, an actor is allowed 15 minutes to do as he/she pleases. However, the journal adjusts about 1-3 minutes of the original time and makes unforeseen changes to make the scene shorter or longer. Therefore, the actors will need to think and react quickly making their performance more realistic. Not only would this be true for the acting, but the scenes and performance time would also depend on the movements of the stage.

The thoughts and memories of objects made with experience allow us to look past the form or essence of the physical object. As time passes, the essence of an object increasingly takes on a vast array of gigantic distortions of memories which are attached to the object. Therefore in a performance, the more a bookcase leans for-ward, images of welcome memories of the object disappear and as the fog covering the image lifts, we can see the essence of the object

mIrroreD mass of DIsTorTIon

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concepT drawingS

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arT work

The way to ground zero pen on paper and screen tone 55 x 40 cm 2012

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Scene# living room

Scene# protagonist’s room

Scene# class

Curtained mixed media 50 x 40 cm 2012

In the story, the protagonist is saddened by the separation with his best friend; therefore, he becomes immersed in the journal and returns home to reunite with his friend before he moves away. As time passes each page turns backwards, and the actor matches the pages by continuously leading the way. The story progresses in this manner and the memories recede from the most present to the past. Then on the page where the protagonist first met the friend, it is revealed that in actuality the friend is a doll. I saw the protagonist perverting the memories of the object in question, and I believe that we are no different. Through the performance, I was also able to see the audience remember through their own experiences about times where memories and fantasies were shattered. The audience accompanied the pro-tagonist from the present to the past, and by facing the truth, the audience was made to reflect upon and even doubt their own truths.

The sTory

mIrroreD The InfInITe1

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Nowadays in South Korea, popular Korean musician idols are being revered in other nations, normal students rise to fame because of their good looks, and hot topics become overnight phenomena in the surroundings. In the begin-ning of 2012 problems of group violence and bullying contributed to con-tinual student suicides; therefore, reports of group bullying and isolation in schools became a big issue. Because of the student deaths, violence in schools were revealed, social reformation plans were raised, and this brought about much public opinion and interest. On many community sites, the stories of the students and their deaths caused many to leave messages of sympathy and condolences. Unquestionably, this issue led people to coronate the dead students with crowns and turn non-heroes into heroes.

So sorry, colored tape on light box 40 x 65 cm 2012

Mirrored perVerTed SyMpaTHy4Mirrored perVerTed SyMpaTHy

mIrroreD The InfInITe

500 years colored tape on light box 116 x 74 cm 2011

Untitled colored tape on light box 80 x 100 cm 2009

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Sports maniac pen on paper 60 x 50 cm 2012

I hold a membership to Hyundai, the brand of my car, and to Samsung because I use their electronics. I also hold membership to the cosmetic brand Dior, The Body Shop, and a café I frequent in Gangnam. We all hold memberships to particular brands or areas, and these memberships represent a sort of badge of individual worth. As these medals are gathered they become one lump of mass and slowly they become an accessory with which we adorn ourselves. The brilliance of our accessory then becomes the glamour which the world sees. Led by the human nature of classifying, dividing, and setting up a hierarchy, all the acts and products in our lives are respectively divided into levels. These levels are developed by an artificial sense of kinship through membership, and inside this new world we cre-ate new visions and values.

He-men club pen on paper 60 x 50 cm 2012

Mirrored Vain inSignia5Mirrored Vain inSignia

Mirrored paper MonSTer6Mirrored paper MonSTer

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The paper monster print on canvas 45 x 45 cm 2012

People nowadays only like what they are used to and are afraid to try something new. This is because they do not know what results would come about. If we can eliminate having a fear of the unknown, then we can take ourselves past the boundaries.

Detail shot

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The paper mpnster from the side pencil on paper 35 x 55 cm 2012

The paper monster Ver.2 watercolor on silk 35 x 45 cm 2012

mIrroreD The PaPer monsTer

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Mirrored ‘Mirrored Me’7Mirrored ‘Mirrored Me’

Intro#2 colored tape on light box 40 x 40 cm 2012 Intro#3 oil on canvas 40 x 40 cm 2012

1mIrroreD The InfInITe

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self laboratory mixed media variable size 2012

mIrroreD ‘mIrroreD me’40

The reflection I see stand-ing in front of a mirror is the ‘Mirrored Me’. Also the ‘me’ standing in front of the ‘Mir-rored Me’ is a reflection of the ‘Mirrored Me’. At first the mirror just shows an image of my outward appearance. However, the ‘me’ standing in front of the ‘Mirrored Me’ is real, and the human nature and darkness that are inside become revealed.

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Scene_1 printed OHP film on acrylic panel 45.6 x 35.8 in 2011 Scene_2 printed OHP film on acrylic panel 13.8 x 18.5 in 2011

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If I were to compare my life to a performance, then the people around me such as my family and friends would be the audi-ence. While together with this audience there are times when I need to stand apart from their attention in my own space and on my own stage. In those moments, I needed to have my own private stage, and using those thoughts as a foundation, I made a stage of my own. On this stage I could come and go whenever I pleased with the freedom to rest or play as I see fit, and I could also express an inner side that I don’t want to show others. When I remain on my own stage, it is closed off to others, but when I step out, not only does the stage open up for others but it also becomes a performance for them.

self laboratory# 2 mixed media 30cm x 40 cm 2012

8Mirrored reHearSaLMirrored reHearSaL

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9Mirrored errorSMirrored errorS

Errors mixed media 65cm x 40 cm 2012

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With globalization, we have accepted a variety of cul-tures and lived in those cul-tures. Among them, West-ern culture had the greatest impact on us, and this has brought many changes in many aspects such as food, clothing and housing. It is true that western culture has led our lives more con-venient and improved, but we wonder if it only has a positive effect and we tried to find faults behind the splendid culture.

Mirrored exTernaL injury10Mirrored exTernaL injury

mIrroreD The InfInITe 1

mIrroreD exTernal Injury50

The pressures that individuals experience in a competitive society such as South Korea often surge as a social issue. It is reported that South Koreans increasingly feel more stress from external expectations than any other country’s citizens. In 2011 research done by the Department of Social Science at Seoul National University, “The phenomenon of high suicide rate and depression in South Korean society,” it is reported that the psychological pressure from comparison with others is significantly high and it is the major reason for the high suicide rate. I decided to choose this social topic for a project and collaborated with four other students on it. The four included Inyoung Cho, and Haemin Kim who majored in Industrial Design, me who majored in Fine Art, and a graphic design student, Junsik Hwang. We initially met at an art forum outside of the usual academia environment, and deeply discussed about the seriousness of this social issue. At the center of art, all design stands humanity. We believed that it was a foundational problem shared in all three disciplines to deal with psychological and social issues. Through the work, “External Injury”, one may feel empathy with the modern pressure and alienation.Every individual carries his or her own weight of life. The society expects too much from the individuals. It is sometimes overwhelming to play the role and the responsibilities we have in the society, to bear the expectations from my parents, the employers, the schools, etc. Certain people struggle with having such responsibilities. Due to these exterior pressures, our egos are affected and lose the original innocence and characteristics. Our group attempted conveying such subject of pressure through the concept of external injury.

abouT THe work

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Initially, the major part of our discussion was how to visualize this “force” within the concept of pressure and expectation from others. In addition, the focus of the project was to represent that the result of the force applied is shown in the trace of transformed state. After many discussions, our group agreed that clothes are most symbolic representation of an individual. We installed a couple of our own clothes in the gallery. Originally, we experimented with hanging the clothes with elastic strings. Then, we poured epoxy resin over the clothes throughout a couple of days. The clothes combined with such strong adhesive as epoxy resin were kept in the original shapes. The fact that the clothes were kept in the transformed shape resulted by the force applied symbolized the external injury. Injuries are not only caused by physical friction but also psychological and social violence.

work proceSS

9 Stitches mixed media variable size 2012 A broken horn mixed media variable size 2012

An external injury signifies a wound or scar left on our bodies. The clothes in the photographs shows are kept wrinkled. This image represents our internal self transformed after being hurt. Usually, the wrinkles of clothes are rid of after the clothes are hung on the wall for a while. However, the clothes hung on the gallery wall as images cannot rid themselves of wrinkles and do not return to the original form. The wrinkly clothes symbolically resemble the lives of modern people.

22 years mixed media variable size 2012

mIrroreD exTernal Injury 55

our THougHTS on “exTernaL injury”

HyeSun, Lee

HaeMin, kiM

inyoung, cHo

junSik, Hwang

The wrinkled clothes advocate us. Our psyche is repressed. I stretch within such space. I organized a humorous performance within the space with solemn significance. No one is sure of whether my performance will end up making me feel lighter or heavier emotionally.

All injuries are bound to surface, and even if reversed in order, it is expressed outwardly. Like water spilled cannot be recovered, damage does not just disappear silently. It is bound to leave a trace. Even after removing the contracting band, the clothes are frozen in the moment of pressure. Through this image, I see myself from childhood fearing and being hurt by other’s evaluation of me only according to test scores.

It is psychological injury that is caused by stress and pressure from the society. I personally thought that I could hide it because it is invisible. Nonetheless, the wounds eventually surfaced through my facial e-pression and behaviors that I realized that the pain was speaking through my entire body. My stretched arms in the photograph represent my desire to escape. I desire to be free at this moment, though am among the con-torted clothes that advocate us.

The biggest pressure for me was to succeed as a graphic designer. Instead of allowing students to focus on schoolwork, my family and the society have put a great deal of pressure on me for finding employment. As it has become harder and harder to find employment since a couple of years ago, and as a twenty-one year-old, I am already worried about my life after graduation. This is not a problem of my own but a collective one shared by my generation living in this modern world. These pressures suffocate us.

mIrroreD The InfInITe1

oTher works 55

oTHer workSoTHer workS

oTher works56

Untitled charcoal on paper 60 x 50 cm 2012

Buyeong Apt, 101dong 1203hoDeungchon 3dong, Kangseo-GuSeoul, South Korea(82) 109177-2593

guraaction@naver.com EDUCATION

2006-02-2012-02 B.F.A Division of Fine Art from Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea

EXHIBITIONS

2011 BFA Thesis Exhibition, Sookmyung Women’s University2010 Invitation Exhibition ‘Star’, Gallery I, Seoul, Korea2009 Gusang Exhibition, Seongnam Arts Center, Gyeonggi-do, Korea2009 Kyunghyang Art Contest Exhibition, Kyunghyang Gallery, Seoul, Korea2009 Project Exhibition ‘Bae-net’, Sookmyung Women’s University2008 Project Exhibition ‘So-tong’, Sookmyung Women’s University

AWARDS

2010 Awarded Creative talents scholarship, Sookmyung Women’s University2010 Awarded FA department scholarship, Sookmyung Women’s University 2009 Awarded Contest Scholarship, Sookmyung Women’s University2009 Awarded Kyunghyang Art Contest, KyunghyangNewspaper2009 Awarded Gusang Art Contest, Gusang Fine Arts Association 2009 Awarded FA department scholarship, Sookmyung Women’s University 2008 Awarded SookmyungMillennium scholarship, Sookmyung Women’s Univ.2008 Awarded FA department scholarship, Sookmyung Women’s University 2008 Awarded FA department scholarship, Sookmyung Women’s University

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Jul. 2010- Jan. 2011 Walt Disney World Internship Program, Orlando, FLMar. 2010 Wall painting at MND welfare agencyMar. 2008-Nov. 2008 Guruteogi community children’s center, volunteer in teaching art classesJan. 2008- Dec. 2008 Sookmyung Women’s University, volunteer abroad club, SIWA, leader

Hye Sun Lee