Irene Hsiao, Shared Earth Flowing Water: Seed
Created in collaboration with Antonius Bui, Hunter Diamond, Amanda Maraist, Kedgrick Pullums, Jr., and Darling "Shear" Squire
Photos by Joerg Metzner (@joerg_metzner_photography / www.joerg-metzner.com)
Stephanie Mercedes, Never in Our Image
Never in Our Image is a three-part experimental opera that presents Mercedes’ process of gun transformation through sound. Mercedes creates musical instruments and sonic sculptures from reclaimed guns. Through cutting, melting, and utilizing instruments cast from weapons Mercedes composes musical scores. The work forces the archetype of violence into its opposite: the beauty of music and art. This three-part performance invites the public to become a part of the cathartic experience of gun transformation.
Photos by Amir Pourmand (@amirpourmand)
AYDO, Melting Moon & Ssitkimgut (Mourning Rituals)
"Melting Moon", 2024, 2-channel video, 30:00 & 15:00
Director of Photography: Mitch Blummer
Performers: Antonius Bui, Sohye Kim
Cinematic documentation of performances of rituals exploring metamorphosis through engagement with elements earth, water, fire, and metal (minerals) filmed across ecologically and spiritually resonant sites: the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the historical city of Gyeong-Ju, the island of Kauai, Hudson Valley, and sculptural environments constructed at Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts.
Ssitkimgut (Mourning Rituals) performed at the Museum of Arts and Design & Christie’s ‘At the Table’ exhibition
A choreography contemporizing the Korean shamanic folk dance salpuri, which is traditionally centered on rituals that cleanse the spirits of the deceased before joining their ancestors. In this modern take developed by Yu, the dance will explore themes of lineage, land, belonging, and displacement. Dancers Sohye Kim, Antonius Bui, and Nicholas Oh will perform live, wearing elaborate reimaginations of traditional Korean ceremonial garments. Beginning in a cocoon-like form, these garments made of Korean silk, embroidery, and ceramic embellishments, will slowly unravel throughout the performance.
Mher Kandoyan, What Remains
UMD MFA 25′
“What does it mean to inherit a cycle – cycles of hope and joy, cycles of generational trauma, cycles of violence in the country where I was born, cycles of violence in the country where I live, and cycles of violence that have occurred and continue to occur around my family?
Through What Remains, I reject complicity, choosing instead to take matters into my own body – to process, to resist, and hopefully, one day, to break the cycles I was born into. “ -Mher Kandoyan
Hoesy Corona, The Nobodies
"Can You Imagine Ever Wanting to be White?"
George Washington University's Gallery 102
Washington, DC