Performance Info

Launched in 2014, Unplugged Bodies is a dance company led by choreographer Kim Kyoung-shin. Kim is touted as a choreographer with great potential who has made outstanding achievements based on his years of experience in international collaboration and a wide scope of activities coupled with his bold artistic experiments. Unplugged Bodies aims to explore movement using the body and collaboration among various art genres. It pays special attention to the relationship between objects and the body and that between the body and the body, creating a dialogue of movement.

Artistic Director & Choreographer Kim, Kyoung Shin

Interview

Q: Please tell me about Unplugged Bodies.

Unplugged Bodies is a group I created to specialize in performance and music. I received rehabilitation therapy for three years because of an illness and, at that time, I felt I was unplugged from dance and society. After the rehabilitation therapy, I co-created the work “Unplugged Bodies” with British choreographer Freddie Opoku-Addaie. The title of the work then became the name of our group.

I went to Britain in 2005. While touring as a dancer with Freddie Opoku-Addaie, I was invited to participate in a project by Hofesh Shechter and became involved in the premier “Uprising.” I then joined the Diversions Dance Company and the Russell Maliphant Dance Company to work with different choreographers. I worked with over 10 choreographers and producers in Britain before I returned home. In 2008, I made the semi-finals at the choreographer contest, The Place Prize, which was held in The Place in London. It helped me draw public attention as a fully-fledged choreographer for the first time.

“Homo Ludens” looks at human nature through play. I read Johan Huizinga’s “Homo Ludens” while planning the work and focused on man as a player. It is an omnibus work, presenting scenes from daily life, festivals, and childhood memories. We also installed the square frame LED light on stage. ‘Inside the frame’ refers to the confined world and, at the same time, a space for play. ‘Outside the frame’ refers to the hectic world that revolves around us.

“Homo Faber” talks about the human desire by taking about the topic — human nature — in terms of man as a maker and creating and describing images through movement and objects. This work was inspired by “homo faber” created by Henri Bergson. We’re living in an industrialized society, constantly making new things and throwing away them. I wanted to raise public awareness of material abundance and repetitive production. I wanted to take a look at the paradoxical world, in which humans are dominated by the tools they constantly create, by comparing it with human nature and desire. The conveyor belt scene shows it best. We connected five tables to create a conveyor belt and groups of three dancers moved people instead of boxes. This scene asks us how mass production and consumption use people as tools. While creating this work, I studied objects and thought that people could become objects, and objects could be the subject. After all, I wanted to convey the message that our own actions disrupt the balance between nature and humans.

The word “Lupiens” in “Homo Lupiens” is a portmanteau that consists of Ludens and Sapience, meaning “future man.” This work features all the characteristics humans have, such as knowledge, tools, play, and the like. It conveys the message that we humans have constantly created something for convenience and, after all, created AI (artificial intelligence) to replace humans. In other words, this work portrays a human who wants to become a god.

I created this work by picturing us in the year 2,500. I heard the news some time ago that nations around the world are now curbing the development of technology. It implies that humans may be in conflict with technology and lose their jobs. I thought that I might share this fear. In this work, I expressed anxieties about space and setting. We used shapes of diverse sizes and broken tools. To relate this work as a part of the series, I borrowed the props and narration from “Homo Faber.”

The “Homo” trilogy taught me a strong sense of responsibility as an author. I received positive stimulation from dancers while communicating with them in the process of creating the work. The way I see it, the world has also changed. Being a creator seems like a blessed profession. I can express what I’ve imagined and expand my ideas. It also inspires me and gives me hope and joy throughout my life.

Our works are divided into two: the “Body” series and the “Homo” series. The “Homo” series is large in scale and it offers a lot to see as it features a wide variety of objects and stage sets. It gives you the impression that you’re watching a movie. The “Body” series, on the other hand, focuses on movement. It is preferred by audiences that enjoy watching movement itself. We set a clear theme and create unique movements of our own for the series. We also pay extra special attention to music to achieve both auditory and visual pleasure.

I would like to enter the international stage by using diverse media, including dance films and stage performances. I also plan to produce an environmental series. While creating a series on human exploration, I began to set my eyes on environmental issues. I’m thinking of producing “Plastic Island,” which vividly depicts the Earth suffering from garbage, where a gigantic plastic island was created as garbage was transported by ocean currents. Also, the Arctic ice is melting and sea levels are rising because of global warming. “Plastic Island” touches on these issues from the perspectives of three entities: the God of Oceans Varuna, humans, and nature. This time, I would like to create a work that is readily accessible and appealing to the public. In order to do so, I will add live percussion performances and stuntmen performing somersault. It seems important to present many things to please the eye and yet express artistically.

Production Details

〈Homo Faber〉
〈Homo Ludens〉
〈Homo Lupiens〉
〈Body Series〉
〈Unplugged Bodies〉

- 2021 Festival International De Danse S.O.U.M, France
- 2020 Seattle International Dance Festival ‘Winter Mini Fest’, USA
- 2019 ‘MODAFE Project’ Collaboration with dancers from UK, Korea
- 2018 The Place ‘A Festival of Korean Dance’, UK

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