ROAD TEST / HIKING TEST
Dates: May 24. 2019 3 pm – 5 pm / May 31, 2019 3 pm- 5 pm
Location: The Total Museum of Art, Seoul and a nearby hiking trail
Directing and Stage Design: Jaewook Lee
Participating Choreographers: Yeonwoo Na, Sumi Jang
Costume Design: HAGAHI
Device used: Emotiv EPoc+
Photos by: Jaewook Lee & Sean Roh
Road Test, Hiking Test (2019) consisted of two performance events that explored how the brains of two choreographers respond in different situations. Two choreographers wore EEG(electroencephalogram) machines that recorded electrical patterns in the choreographers’ brainwaves while they were improvising their movements in two different locations. The project attempted to reveal how nature and city-like space regulate our mental space and the choreographers’ actions.
First, the Hiking Test focused on human brains in nature. During the Hiking Test, the two choreographers traveled up a mountain without any rules, expressing the sense of freedom through their improvised movements while feeling, smelling, and sensing their surrounding. Olfactory and tactile sensation joined together to form a meshwork of connectivity and then transformed into motions.
On the other hand, in the Road Test, the choreographers faced lots of rules in a gallery space that resembled the road in a city. The choreographers’ actions were limited as they had to follow the rules. This city-like environment bombarded them with many stimuli such as traffic, signs, regulations, and other audiences on stage. A widely distributed brain network was seen, especially when making turns and interacting with other people at the intersections.
