White Cube Project was founded in 2017 as JUNG Sung-tae, whohad trained as a dancer and worked as a choreographer and creator for 20 years,met the circus genre. They keep trying to provide the audiencewith a driving force for letting go of anything negative and starting againthrough their performances. In order to communicate with their audience, theyabsorb, modify and restructure different elements including dance, acting,sound, light, structures and the circus. By doing this, they make performanceswith diverse and interesting forms and images. They perform in different typesof places including theaters and streets. Their representative works include "The Most Valuable Thing", "SIGNAL", "Connection" and "Jo-Ta;Steer".

Interview

Q. You met the circus afterliving as a dancer for 20 years and you founded the company. How did you meetthe circus and how did you train?

JUNG Sung-tae: I actually didn’t decide to perform the circus at aspecific moment. And I didn’t experience any great inspiration from the circusand I didn’t have any reference to emulate. Instead, I started the circus witha light heart, quite accidentally. In 2013, I attended a vertical danceworkshop run by “Project Nalda,” a company specializing in aerial performances.On that occasion, the director of Project Nalda suggested that I try thecircus. I had actually enjoyed extreme movements. His suggestion intrigued meand I got started. At first, I tried five or six acrobatic apparatuses one byone: chines pole, tightrope, trapeze and tightwire, just like getting close aperson I first met. I first tried the tightrope and trapeze but these toolsweren’t for me. The same was true for the tightwire. The movements generatedthrough these tools didn’t seem to be what I had wanted. What I finally chosewas the Chinese pole. And two years ago, I also started performing on thetrampoline. It’s so fun and it feels great. So these days. I focus on theChinese pole and trampoline.

JUNG Sung-tae: I actually didn’t know that “White Cube Project” wouldbe the name of the company. In 2017, Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture rana program supporting promising arts projects. I applied to the program with aproject and “White Cube Project” was the proejct’s name. My project was selectedfor the program and I came to benefit from several years of support. Soproducing two performances for two years, I saw some possibility and the namefinally became that of the company. “White” means a new beginning. It is acolor with unlimited potential, just as we can write and express anything onwhite paper. It is also my favorite color. A “cube” means a certain form thatcould be dismantled and reassembled, just like a building block I used to playwith in my childhood. I can make a shape I want and I can change it. Or, I getan unexpected structure in that process. Such a meaning of a cube isattractive. Moreover, I thought that I could use it as an objet with which I couldtry many things for creation. That is why I combined these two words to name mycompany “White Cube.” I feel great about unveiling the company’s artisticdirection through this name.

JUNG Sung-tae: In fact, this question is important for me. That isbecause this question helped me think about the company’s direction again. Inmy view, how we define a company as a certain genre or a certain form helpsartists receive institutional support. Clarification of a company’s categoryaccording to its genre or form is the information that is required to describetheir works at a festival or a performance venue. But I don’t want to define mycompany that way. We sing, act, dance, use structures and perform circusacrobatics during our performance. As a matter of fact, all these thingsconstitute what I want to pursue. For those who expect a certain specificgenre, it may sound ambiguous but my ultimate goal is to successfully absorband digest all these elements to express them. I would like to create, try andexperiment with works that let people see all these things at the same time andthat have many things to see. I still have many improvements to make but if Iwere to define my company, I want it to be defined not as a genre but as“performance by White Cube Project.” Recently, when asked about our genre, Ialso answer “contemporary circus dance theater.”

When it comes to creating works, I don’t distinguishbetween dance and circus movements. In my subjective view, it is nowmeaningless to clarify any border between movements in the contemporaryperforming arts in which everything seems to be perceived as a movement. When Icreate a performance, I focus on expression rather than on dividing movements.I always think about how to mix and effectively express three things: emotions,breath and movement.

Dance and the circus may look very different in terms oftheir creative processes but in a way, they are not very different. I observehow international companies work and I watch my favorite companies’ videos andinterviews. I also visit international festivals. These occasions inspire andteach me. To summarize how we work, we adopt circus materials in the creativeprocess of dance and expand it. That is the concept of our work. None of myworks shows acrobatics only with circus tools. We don’t express movements forcircus tools. Rather than that, we express something by means of objets thatenable circus movements. That is my direction. Dance also has its way of usingobjets. So the only difference is how much we expand such a way in theacrobatic style.

JUNG Sung-tae: Of course, there are differences. Those who work with meare artists who have trained and performed for at least 10 to 20 years. Theyhave lived different lives so it is natural that they differ in terms of howthey communicate. I majored in contemporary dance so when I collaborate withdancers, I don’t need to talk much. That is because they already know how Ihave worked so far and what language I speak. When working with them, I don’tneed to depend on texts. I can just show them movements or images or I can tellthem something abstract. Even then, they can communicate with me and theyeasily empathize with the direction of my creative work. But when collaboratingwith actors, I sometimes need to give them very detailed explanations and eventhe subtext. In such a case, we need to discuss a lot in order to understandeach other and to share the direction of a work. In the creative process, dancerssometimes find it embarrassing or challenging when asked to try theatricalmovements. On the contrary, when actors are asked to express movements, theirfacial and verbal expressions are rich but they find it difficult to expresssomething bigger. Nevertheless, they can overcome all these difficulties bypracticing and training together. It isn’t about what is good or bad. It isjust that how they communicate is different. Both dancers and actorssuccessfully follow me to reach the final destination of directing I pursue.The process of understanding it differs depending on their educationalbackgrounds, age and experience. But I finally realized that such a processalso concerns my capacity and knowledge as the director. I still need to makemany improvements for that and I will keep making efforts.

JUNG Sung-tae: It is different for every performance. For "The MostValuable Thing", I was inspired by a text. I had a chance to read "TheLittle Price" again. Reading it, I kept thinking about what would have beenthe most valuable thing in my life. This is how I came to produce theperformance. "SIGNAL" premiered at the rooftop of Seoul Dance Center. Itstarted with the sunset in that space. One day, I visited the center’s rooftopat sunset and the view was really beautiful. So I wanted to perform there.Works by French director Yoann Bourgeois also inspired me. And I was veryinterested in sound interactive performances. These three elements stimulatedthe creation of "SIGNAL". For other works, I was inspired by a paintingand I also made certain works only for certain spaces. In the case of "Jo-Ta;Steer", which was produced this year,its idea started with a structure with a pendulum I often saw at the optician’swhen I was a kid. I was interested in the motility of the structure and Ithought that it would be fun to see a performer becoming its pendulum andmoving everywhere. So I did research which led to creation. In short, when animage, a space and things I have wanted to use for a performance meet eachother in a timely manner, they constitute a starting point for a performance.

I’m very interested in how structures used for performancesinteract with human bodies and how they make people move. I unconsciouslyrepeat a certain word and that is “mechanism.” Indeed, those who work with medo say that I repeat that word. It is necessary to understand the motility ofmovements before moving in order to get things done more rapidly and to enrichexpressions. It is important to understand the mechanism. Since my childhood, Ihave enjoyed rides. So I carefully observe such structures or movements causedby them. Observing them, I think, “How do they move like that?” My curiosityand observation for mechanisms and my imagination about rearrangement seem tobe endless. Such inclination has a decisive role in determining the directionof my works.

When it comes to content, it is not an exaggeration to saythat all my works are connected. "SIGNAL" is about how we accept, reactto and retransmit the innumerable signals in this world. And "Jo-Ta;Steer" says that it is necessary tofind one’s own helm while drifting in every direction. I think I will keep ontelling such stories. That is because I want the audience to reflect on theirlives and to find the direction they want through my performances.

JUNG Sung-tae: The first thing that counts is the “view.” In any place,I feel something during the first visit, like its smells, lights or sounds. I’msensitive to visuals. I imagine if my work would match a space or not. Forexample, if White Cube is in the middle of an eight-lane asphalted road, itwill look very unfamiliar but it will also look very fun and mysterious. Itwill make people think something may happen and stimulate their curiosity. Insuch a way, I stay in a place for a long time and imagine. I consider differentfactors but what finally leads me is the place’s view.

JUNG Sung-tae: When I was a kid, I wanted to be the President of theRepublic of Korea. A dream could be unrealistic. I always dream unrealistic andrealistic dreams at the same time. I always have at least one dream that wouldbe nonsense and impossible for others. But who knows? My dream is to become aworld-renowned choreographer. Another dream is for White Cube Project. I wantthe team to meet people on the spot as long as possible, in a sustainablemanner.

As for something new to try, I want to produce alarge-scale performance. I want to make a very large work. So far, I have madeworks whose number of performers ranges from two to six. Like Pina Bausch andCirque du Soleil, I want to experience a large-scale, complex production withmany artists. I’m personally doing research on experiments using sounds. Iwould also like to further study and experiment with juggling-based scenes andmovements in a structure hanging in the air in order to try them.

#unexpected_beauty #unexpected_energy

#another_theater_with_unlimited_potential#playground_of_imagination

*Photo Credit: ©Sang-hun Ok(Photo 1,3, ©Hyungjoon PARKKIM(Photo 2,4,5)