A cicada nymph doesn't fall off the roof for no reason

Written by Sie Haun

A worm falls from the roof, rolling down. It seems like a pitiful scene, but the expression of the falling worm is only calm. As if to say this. I have a thought- that’s why I did it." We live by giving and receiving countless misunderstandings. And sometimes the evaluations that sprout from misunderstandings come back as pain. The modern society that talks about ‘hyper-connectivity’ accelerates that process, and it takes great courage to put out one’s honest story. Because if distorted information spreads widely, it is not easy to correct it later. There is a heavy burden to show only smooth words and deeds that do not bother anyone. How can a ‘pleasant conversation’ be possible? A charming conversation requires a proper mischief. It is the power to develop relationships by appropriately crossing the seemingly solid baseline, planting wit in the places where cracks are made. Because humans are inherently playful, metaphorical and creative communicators*. In other words, a pleasant conversation is made up of playfulness and flexibility. Song Yuna’s ‘parasitic sculpture’ is characterized by excellent flexibility and wit. The parasitic sculpture exists attached to another writer’s work, and the existing work that the parasitic sculpture relies on corresponds to the ‘host work’. The parasitic sculpture changes its shape according to the host work and at the same time fades or expands the meaning of the host work. Until now, she has met with the author of the host work in advance, communicated with each other, studied the context of the host work closely, and made parasitic sculptures. But in this “A cicada nymph doesn't fall off the roof for no reason

”, she presents a more daring method of parasitism. The planner Ji Ha-woon and the artist Song Yuna actively appropriate ‘misunderstanding’ and share a ‘pleasant conversation’. The so-called ‘pleasant conversation dotted with errors’ is done as a ‘proverb’. The detailed process is as follows. 1. The planner selects foreign proverbs that are particularly unfamiliar. 2. Translate the selected proverb with translator A for preliminary translation. 3. Present the translated sentence to the artist as a work name. 4. The artist adds his own wit to the puzzle-like sentence and interprets it as a parasitic sculpture. The core of the ‘pleasant conversation dotted with errors’ is Song Yuna’s ‘joke’. In this exhibition, parasitic sculptures do not faithfully reflect the original meaning of host works or proverbs. Rather, the result becomes more interesting as more absurd interpretations are involved away from the original meaning. That’s why they don’t care if the production process is full of wrong answers. Like a worm that slides down from the roof willingly to become an adult. Song Yuna unfolds her own wit by parasitizing on the existing context of host works/proverbs, cultural background of proverbs, and linguistic context. The exhibition started with proverbs, proceeded with proverbs, and ended with proverbs. Sometimes small but always charismatic, proverbs that suit Song Yuna’s parasitic sculptures. ‘Small ears are mischievous and bold.’**

*Morten H. Christiansen, Nick Chater, “Evolving Language”, Whale Book, 2023, p.9. 

**By the way, Song Yuna has small ears.