My Yeonji Way (2016), Installation & live performance, To Be Converted, Bread & Jam, London
I was given free choice of spaces in a house due ‘to be converted’ at 52 Whitbread Road, SE4, in London.
I chose to clear out the garden shed and then set up the space to make a continuous, ritualistic performance of My Way (a song popularised by Frank Sinatra) on the piano. I mowed a ‘way’ across the lawn.
I learned to read music and play the song especially for this performance. At the Private View, my performer’s nerves were smoothed by wine and a supportive audience. I played the song repeatedly until it grew dark.
This work has a similar structure to my earlier piece Yeonji-Garigae (2013). There and then I performed the singing of a popular, revolutionary and emotional Korean song while performing rehearsed gestures and wearing a special costume that I designed and made.
In My Yeonji Way (2016) I wore a large hat and had my back to the audience, who could only see my hands or face if they peered into the shed and into a small mirror hanging there.
