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PAMS Choice

Introducing outstanding contemporary performing arts
from Korea to the global stage curated by PAMS.

  • Showcase
  • Music
  • concert installation
in:out WHATWHY ART
  • 10-15(Wed) 19:00 ~ 19:40
  • Seoul Namsan Gugakdang
Who: what / inside: outside / is there?
  • #koreanmusic #contemporaryKoreantraditionalmusic #concertinstallation
Introduction to the work

The main theme of the concert installation <in:out> is the concept of “deboundarization” concerning binary divisions. It approaches the relational nature of boundaries in a multi-layered way and expresses, through performance, an acknowledgment of diversity and the concepts of inside and outside themselves. <in:out> questions the boundaries of a divided world by fluidly crossing between traditional and contemporary musical styles, shaking up fixed boundaries and granting freedom to segmented divisions. To achieve this, it reimagines longstanding Korean musical traditions—such as Jongmyo Jeryeak, Munmyo Jeryeak, pansori, and gagok—within a contemporary context. Through a performance that pursues open spatiality, performers and audience members share an irreplaceable embodied time together in the same space and moment, intertwining as equal ritual participants and allowing them to deeply sense one another. <in:out> asks again about many of the distinctions made within the performance. This questioning of boundaries leads to a reconsideration of identity, often narrowly defined, and an exploration of relationships, thereby creating possibilities for new changes. By re-questioning boundaries — the unclear divisions of who or what is inside or outside — <in:out> restores the richness lost to rigid separations, allowing audiences to experience a newly expanded musical space-time.

WHATWHY ART

WhatWhy Art is a Korean contemporary music ensemble that encompasses both tradition and modernity. Based on music and sounds accumulated over a long period, it realizes contemporary art through multiple perspectives. It carries out innovative artistic experiments through collaboration, preserving the unique identity of Korean music while pursuing the expansion of contemporaneity and a forward-looking vision.
WhatWhy Art places existence before questions or generates questions themselves. Their aim is not to provide answers; rather, the question itself often becomes the purpose and goal. With a focus on humanity, life, environment, and society, they create works that deconstruct materiality and its underlying narratives, independence and interconnectedness, and especially the continuity revealed through the genealogy of time.
Supported by the Arts Council Korea, the ensemble has been invited to major festivals including the Seoul Performing Arts Festival(SPAF) and the Korea Improvised Music Festival. Key works include <Music on Life and Death: Saengsaui>(2019), <One Moment>(2020), <Reflection>(2021), <Eternal Moments>(2022), <7 Ways>(2022), <Trembling>(2023–2024), and <in:out>(2024).

Here is a table explaining the program details. It consists of direction, cast, composition, music director, showcase time, composition, tour personnel, original work, contact information, and development support.
Director Kang Ji-eun Performers Kang Ji-eun, Kim Woong-sik, Yoo Hong, Lee Na-rae, Lee Hwa-young
Composition Sebastian Claren, Jang Young-gyu, Maya Dunietz, Jang Dong-in Dance Film Hwang Hwan-hee
Duration(Full-length) 60 minutes Tour Size 7 (5 performers, 2 staff members)
Contact Kim Se-hee / whatwhy_doc@naver.com , whatwhyart@gmail.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/whatwhyart
Review
  • "There exist things beside us that unfold like an endless spectrum between light and darkness—things that cannot be conceptualized, things deemed unnecessary even to conceptualize, and things that have never had the chance to be conceptualized. What if countless declarations of de-boundary actually begin with recognizing boundaries, or even with a deeper contemplation of concepts? Positioned on one side of such reflection is WhatWhy Art’s <in:out>."
    - Seong Hye-in (Music Critic)

group photo
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