When one thinks of the work of Creative Group NONI, the first image that comes to mind is of a sculpture, a sculpture that is realistic and well-made. As you zoom in closer on the work, objects that seemed to be dolls become moving figures, their movements are used to make episodes, and these episodes are connected to develop the story. Creative Group NONI brings their performances to completion by breathing life into inanimate objects, rather the way a shaman might do in a ritual performance. This group of young artists knows how to enjoy themselves, and their performances turn the dusty stage into the site of exuberant entertainment.

Chaotic Twins, a cruel fairy tale told by a lively yet grotesque itinerant troupe of performers

Chaotic Twins is the group’s second piece to be selected for PAMS Choice, following Kkok-du in 2006, and it is the first piece that the group has based on text. Until the group met playwright Kyung Min-sun, its work had centered on image, movement, yeonhui (traditional outdoor performances), and music.
The main subject of Chaotic Twins is a group of wandering performers at the turn of the twentieth century at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, and the story of Siamese twins born into a single body who depart on a journey to become adults. The piece turns out to be a delightful yet grotesque story punctuated by cruel episodes that occur during their journey. In this cruel fairy tale, the choreography of Korea’s jige (A-frame carrier) theater and mask dance (which is used to represent the movement of the Siamese twins) and beona dolligi (a traditional performance in which a round dish is spun atop a long pole ) and sangmo- dolligi (the performers wear a hat with a long streamer attached to it and spin it from side to side) are used where appropriate to enhance the performance’s visual appeal.

Communication through a form and theme that transcend time and space

Most of Creative Group NONI’s previous pieces have found their theme in traditional Korean theater, including traditional puppet shows, manseokjun-nori(a non-verbal puppet show which is an example of a traditional Korean shadow play), Gangneung gwanno mask theater (Korea’s only mask play that is performed without words.), and sotdae-noreum (This traditional performance is only found in records, where it is described as a dance that took place atop a pole with dancers holding a wine glass in their hands. ‘Sotdae’ are long poles that were erected in connection with folk beliefs in the hope of a good harvest or in celebration of some auspicious event). Works such as Kkokdu, Ignis Futuus: Rin, Playing Wind, Chaotic Twins, and Monkey D’dance were created from these materials.
But these were not merely works that added a contemporary reinterpretation to a theme drawn from these traditional materials. Instead, they also involved the work of finding similar themes and performance rituals in similar cultures and connecting these to the themes derived from Korean tradition. Sotdae-noreum, which served as the material for Chaotic Twins, is a traditional performance that did not survive through the present. We are told that, as Creative Group NONI was reading and studying the records about this performance that remain today, they filled out the material by connecting with a traditional performance in Spain known as castell, in which performers build a human tower. When it occurred to me that there might be some points of similarity between the wandering band of performers in Chaotic Twins and the clowns and itinerant circus troupes of the West, I was once again reminded of the artistic values of Creative Group NONI—and of director Kim Kyung-hee—which figure in each and every one of their works.

“When I am choosing the subject for my pieces, I generally choose a lot of Korean subjects. There is no special reason for this aside from the fact that this is good raw material that is loaded with creativity and potential. This is only natural for a Korean artist who is living in Korea. But during the process of refining these materials, I have become accustomed to collecting many more different materials from other cultural areas, spreading them out, sorting them, and sketching an image map as I look for similarities and differences with the other materials I have already collected. This has taught me that there is a link between the past and present, and that the wide world is not composed of separate areas of culture but is rather bound closely together with links. During the research process as I am getting a work ready, when I come upon the point of connection between these links, I feel immense pleasure and joy. I also am visited by such moments of joy after this process, when the performance is complete and I meet the audience. But when I think that the continents and the past and present, that is to say time and space, are connected, I feel the urge to discover what it is that links all of these things together. I guess that’s why I search for the pleasure of communicating and sharing as I do shows overseas, for audiences from other cultures, and in spaces in other environments.”

Through this PAMS Choice—and through the additional opportunities for performances that will be triggered by the selection of this piece for PAMS Choice—director Kim Kyung-hee hopes that more of the links of sharing that the group is searching for will be connected.

Breathing life into objects

The works of Creative Group NONI are marked by a number of characteristics. These are stories about masks, space, life, and death.
The actors in their works always wear masks. Because of this, audience members pay more attention not to the actors but rather to the characters inside the story, and to their movements. All words and feelings are implied and expressed in the language of the body. Kim Kyung-hee says that she seeks to “animate objects and objectify people,” and it is in this sense that, as the actors are concealed behind masks like objets d’art, they are transformed into characters without revealing their identity on the space known as the stage. “Moving machines and mechanical motion” and “turning text into image, and image into text” are some of the artistic values of Creative Group NONI, which seeks not to emphasize any one element through the characteristics of that element but rather to look for the points of contact between elements. These values also illustrate the characteristics and nature of a group that is made up of artists from the areas of music, theater (movement), and art. One characteristic of Creative Group NONI is that it uses movement, images, and music to complement each other and form perfect harmony. This characteristic gives the group its unique charm.

“Since the individual does not stand out in the works of Creative Group NONI, we all try to create mutual harmony so that the performance itself can stand out. This is why we always use masks—so that the people on the stage will not look like actors so much as people who have been transformed into characters. This is the point at which a performance is connected to a value system, like that of a shamanistic ritual. I think that, the moment that the actor’s face is revealed, the ritualistic aspect disappears and acting begins to reflect the actor’s ambition. On a personal level, I think that an objet d’art makes the perfect character, and objets d’art and masks are incapable of being lifelike unless a craftsperson and an actor who combines perfect technique and balanced sensibility are working as a team. Masks continue to appear in our work so that actors do not reveal their individuality but instead are transformed into characters that are connected to the work. This is something that demands dedication and mental strength from the actor for a long period of time. Of course, even if they are using the same mask, interpretations can vary, and it takes quite a lot of time to find one’s own individual approach and get used to this. While this process can be extremely trying, we are seeking the harmony achieved when the entire performance is finely woven together.”

The venue where Creative Group NONI performs its work is also special. While Chaotic Twins was designed for performance in a theatre, in their previous works, the performance space was freshly designed according to the nature of the work. Previous performance venues included a tent setup in an empty lot, the surface of a road, and an entertainment area in a city. And the points of difference between these created spaces impart new meaning: “life,” “death,” and “communication.” I believe that these were not meanings created because the performers intended to create them but rather that they were something that anyone who watched the performance must have felt at least once.

1+1+1+1+1+1+1+…………….. = NONI

Creative Group NONI performs pieces that take their themes from Korean material, but they are a group of performers who work with artists from a variety of genres—they are not themselves a traditional performance group. The group presents its creative pieces as a whole but is divided into three separate units: music, theater (movement), and art for small group activity. Group members engage in various residencies in the hope that they can meet other artists or groups of artists to help them create new works.
As they attempt to communicate with their contemporaries through diverse subject matter, Creative Group NONI aims to keep open the possibility of moving in various directions as it does its work. The fact that the group is made up of separate music, theater (movement), and art units is also inspired by the idea that it is only when we have broken away from the standardized system that we can more naturally embrace new artists and systems. I hope that PAMS Choice will serve as a catalyst for the group to find points of connection for overseas performances and to meet with new artists.