MarineBoy started his clown circus in 2003. He came to call himself MarineBoy because he grew up in an island. As a creator, he is interested in cutting-edge technology, ecology, nature and humans. Ingeneral, what he sees and feels in a street landscape leads to a performance. Recently, he has vigorously done not only the circus but also creative activities making use of devices made by himself, asking questions to the world in different ways. Willing to embrace both joy and sorrow in this world, the clown MarineBoy continues to expand his realm of activities on the border between the circus and street arts.

Interview

Q. What made you MarineBoy aclown?

LEE Sung Hyung: At first, I started by working part time as a clown at supermarkets and shops. I’m a shy guy from an island so it was quite challenging to disguise myself as a clown to meet people. At that time, other clowns I met accidentally informed me of “juggling.” I then bought juggling tools to start practicing it little by little. It was so fun and worked well and in a few months, I reached at echnical level that others couldn’t imitate. I felt great about acting as a clown so I continued to do it. On stage, I’m a funny clown but once I move backstage, I’m calm and think much. So I personally feel the difference between the two persons in me. At first, it was as if  I were wearing someone else’s mask but it has already been 17 years.

LEE SungHyung: As a clown, the most memorable moment came at the 2015 Ansan Street Arts Festival. The sinking of MV Sewol resulted in canceling the festival in 2014 and I participated in the event the following year. I prepared a performance for the festival’s program called the “City of Clowns.” I presented "Circus by Myself". I had already done it previously but at that time, I expressed my intention to comfort people through the performance’s small elements. This was to talk to the city and citizens that had gone through common sorrow. The performance has a scene where a child appears on stage. Normally, I make something with a balloon for the child. But on that day, I made a yellow ribbon (symbolizing commemoration of victims of the sinking of MV Sewol). I then held the child, saying, “Please do not forget me. Please remember me.” My funny tone of a clown would have made some people laugh but it would also have made others empathize with it, feeling comforted. What I said on stage also expressed my determination. And during the performance, it rained. Thousands of people were watching my performance under the rain. It was also raining in my heart. My performance won the grand prize in the “City of Clowns” program. The prize was more precious and sadder than any other prize.

LEE SungHyung: MarineBoy disguised as a clownal ways generates lively and cheerful energy. The clown thinks about how to hang out joyfully with the audience. He often says that he wants to be a clown embracing both joy and sorrow in this world. On the other hand, MarineBoy the creator is closer to my life backstage. He is serious, have lots of concerns and doesn’t know how to enjoy himself. Instead, he diligently learns and studies something. He does something patiently and diligently. He focuses on what makes him curious and he waits for an occasion to transform his thoughts and concerns into a creative work. And when he is willing to make a work, he doesn’t hesitate to do it. He hides technology inside art. He doesn’t make technology visible and he lets art lead technology. That is the work I want to do. Without clarifying a certain border and staying inside, I want to meet audiences in a variety of ways. That should be my greatest joy.

LEE SungHyung: The Wandering Festival used to be held before. At the festival, artists gathered together to plan something and they discussed common themes for a long time. And they presented their own works they created. Participating in the festival four years, I tried and used different technologies to present performances. I had made performances alone before but the performances I made with other creators gave me power to apply my existing technologies. The performances included "Smart Cockroach Contest", which is made with a vibration motor and labyrinth, "I’m Looking for My Brother", which is about flying helium balloons with leaflets, and "Strange Fruit" which asks questions about people looking at the world while they are trapped in their smartphones, ignoring their reality. It was an occasion to gradually discover aspects in this world that MarineBoythe clown hadn’t seen before.

LEE SungHyung: I presented "Beath" while I was about to take a break after finishing several performances. Citizens in Seoul used to go to Gwanghwamun Plaza to attend candlelight vigils. I then heard that there would be a gathering commemorating 1,000 days after thesinking of MV Sewol. So for a few days, I made an apparatus by welding it day and night. This is how the apparatus works. First, people put air into nine bicycle pumps connected to the apparatus. I then let the air get out of the apparatus at once. Then people can hear the sound of the marine signal horn. I designed the apparatus so that citizens gathered in the plaza could operate the pumps together, sweating. An elderly man turned around and shed tears as he heard the sound of the marine signal horn making him remember the sinking of the ferry. Meanwhile, a child gave a silent prayer in front of the life vest while pumping with such a small hand. As a creator, I wanted to use my artistic tools to be with those holding candles. It was an occasion to remember many stories together so it is still resonating in my heart.

Daily objects I see around me and things I wouldn’t have observed before seem to attract me. "Grandma’s Cart" also started from such things. One day, I saw a cart with a big pile of boxes. Whenever I passed by, I saw more boxes in the cart. And the pile got bigger to the point that it would be hard to believe that it was done by a human. One day, the cart disappeared. So the process of searching for the owner of the cart became a performance. "Grandma’s Cart" is a puppet performance that depicts an old lady collecting scrap paper in slow movement. A robot replaces the old lady pulling the cart full of scrap paper in an urban landscape. As for the previous performances, MarineBoy the clown appeared as the main character to be applauded by the audience but in "Grandma’s Cart", MarineBoy hides himself in the crowd to control the robot and he isn’t applauded till the end. Instead, he can listen to what people say closely. An elderly man kept talking to the old lady pulling the cart and he gave her 3,000 won. A woman held the old lady’s hand, turned around and shed tears. In this way, I had my eyes opened to stories and emotions that I hadn’t felt in my previous clown performances.

LEE SungHyung: I once lived in Incheon City. After school, I got money from my piggy bank and went to see the circus in a tent-type theater in the vacant lot of my neighborhood. The circus performance had a clown, monkey and donkey. The name of the circus would have been Dongchun Circus. And in 2012, I went to the Aurillac Festival in France and on that occasion, I saw performances in and out of a tent. Then I really wanted to get the tent. These two experiences of seeing a circus tent met each other subtly to make me interested in making a space for the circus which is located neither on the street nor in a theater. Later on, in 2015, I attended a workshop on making architectural structures organized by Seoul Street ArtsCreation Center. The workshop brought me to a street arts zone in Marseille, France, allowing me to make a tent miniature. At first, I gathered branches in the area and I cut and connected them to design a tent. Afterward, I studied a 3D design program to carry out the early stage of making the structure. Finally in 2019, I completed the circus tent called "Circus Island". It required so much hard work and time. I still feel dizzy when I think about the workprocess. What remains to be done is to equip the tent with its cover, seats and internal system. After finishing all this, I want to take people to the tent island, on a boat I’m also making. I will make them feel the sea, waves and wind through sound effects as if they were actually in an island in the heart of the sea.

LEE SungHyung: Performing alone for a long time, I heard that a studio in the Munrae-dong area in Seoul was offering a reasonable rent. So I got a basement studio. After that, I kept asking other artists having personal studios to make a bigger studio which would not be in a basement. I then secured a space of 200 m², which felt quite big at that time, in Ilsan City. The name of the community Showmohs, which is composed of artists who have worked alone for a long time, means to “ overturn the ‘show.’ ” The group has artists of different genres including those doing the circus, soap bubble performances and drawing shows. Afterward, we moved to a new space in the Yangpyeong-dong area in the district of Yeongdeungpo-gu in Seoul. There, we made quite a nice theater space. Moving around the neighborhood, we performed circus acrobatics and promoted ourselves while flying soap bubbles. Our first performance attracted so many people who filled the entire venue. We then came back to the Munrae-dong area again to have a new space located on a high floor.We are all artists so we may have become competitors but we didn’t. That is because staying together, we have comforted each other with solidarity and joy.

I came to make the “Space One Point One” because I needed to have a big space where I could produce and keep large apparatuses, with my performing artswork expanding. The space was made by LIM Dong-ju from Croquiky Brothers and LEE SungHyung the MarineBoy. We thought of what the space could look like for three months. And then, we designed and built the space. Now, it has a workshop, storeroom, office and rest space. I hope that the space is used for many artists to communicate and dream of new works. My goal is to gather together artists to help them find ways to survive and realize their dreams one by one. I believe that artists should be able to learn autonomy, without relying on anyone. These days, not only two of use but many other people come to this space. For example, an artist comes almost everyday to make automated puppets. Here, we also collaborate with different people, including those working on design, advice and production, without limiting their roles and collaboration methods.

LEE Sung Hyung: For me, the circus is not only about acrobatics but also about everything in the world. Everyone is living a life comparable to the circus. Life itself may be the circus. In the future, MarineBoy will complete the circus tent which is a long-term project. And with the completed tent, he will wander everywhere. Going beyond clown and circus performances as acrobatics, I also want to found a school that could train clowns as artisans. I want to start a festival forartists as well. Someday, I want to develop an apparatus that will amaze the entire world and become an inventor helping people overcome disasters. And I want to make a house I will live in. Above all, as an artist, I want to be someone asking questions about many things in the world. People often tell me, “You worked 17 years. When will you get some rest?” But there are so many things that intrigue me so it seems that I already became a person who can’t take a break. There are so many things to study and learn. The excitement of meeting the audience still makes me move.

#waves_in_daily_life #ecounter_breaking_solitude_ #laboratory #wavelength_made_by_moments_of_meeting_people

#playground #vitality #eyes_toward_the_world

*Photo Credit: ©MarineBoy(Photo 1,2,3,4,5), ©Goguma(Photo 6)