Upbraiding Tradition

Performance outfit for Upbraiding Tradition

Korean silk socks, and a 12" fabric scissor that will be used for Upbraiding Tradition

Braided 5 foot wig in a Tanggi-muhlee style. All 10 performers will wear this.

This October, I will be a part of Art In Odd Places arts festival. Each year Art In Odd Places propose a theme, and hundreds of artists apply. Guest curators and the arts organization team then narrow it down to a selective group. The group consists of performance artists, sculptors, and installations. The festival happens every year from the Hudson River to Avenue C, along 14th street. This year's theme was "Ritual". 

For the festival, my piece will be a ceremony which will consist of a group of ten young Korean women who have grown up within a male dominated cultural family. These women will be dressed in traditional Korean white gowns called Sang-boks and each woman's hair will be tied into a Tanggi-Muhlee braid that drags upon the ground behind her.

The performance will take place along 14^th street, beginning from Avenue C to the Hudson River, where the women will walk slowly in a single line. As they walk, each woman's Tanggi-Muhlee braid will leave behind trail of charcoal dust. Viewers of the performance may follow or trace this black stream-like path to the Hudson riverbank.

Once the ten performers reach the Hudson River, they will join the artist in the next part of the ritual. I will present each of the women with a very large pair of scissors. Using the scissors, each woman will chop off her Tanggi-Muhlee braid and place it in a large glass jar to preserve it. Then, the ten women will embark on a journey back to Avenue C, carrying their braids as trophies or relics of the past.

(Here is the website to Art In Odd Places: http://www.artinoddplaces.org/ )