Tuesday, 22.01.2019, 7pm
Baustelle Schaustelle Düsseldorf, Birkenstraße 61
Ji hyung Song
Born 1989 in Anyang, Südkorea / Lives and works in Düsseldorf.
<Saju(사주)> literally means “four pillars” in Korean. These four pillars are determined by one’s birthday, and represent one’s birth year, month, day and hour. Similar to a western horoscope, Koreans believe that the exact timing of birth holds the key to one’s destiny.There is a Korean word called <palja(팔)> that most people have never heard of. It means “eight characters” and shares similar ideology with Saju. For each of the four pillars in Saju, there are two characters that represent either heaven or earth. This means that each human can have a total of eight characters each symbolizing different things. There are also five elements: wood, water, metal, earth and fire. No one can possess all five elements because we only have four pillars. This is a beautiful way of acknowledging that nobody is perfect.Walking through the streets in Seoul, you can find Saju cafes, Saju tents, offices and many other places where you can learn about the future. At the beginning of the new year, many Koreans visit various fortune telling businesses. There is great interest in people who would like to learn more about their destiny. Often it is difficult times or situations that make you more interested in the future and possible fate. This year I was also going through a difficult phase where I had a great urge to visit a local Saju place. I felt more comfortable after saju fortune sessions and this experience lead me to discover what saju means to me. I realized that Saju plays a very important role in East Asian culture. Regarding my Saju performance, I will take over parts of the interactive work 《Ruhe im Teegarten 2018》and get in touch. I bring the unique Asian culture into the art context and try to communicate with the spectators through performative work.
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