Trans Office Theater UUU Project 2015~2016

A social performance study of the artist’s labor

Artist and president of the art company Salad, Park Kyong Ju’s Experimental Art Project on Art Labor

Once upon a time there lived a Grasshopper in a country. Grasshopper was very hungry. So Grasshopper decided to become an ants and ease the worries about making a living. However, it was difficult for the grasshopper to be both the president and the employee. Because what Grasshopper was doing didn’t make money. – Written by Park Kyong Ju for the role of grasshopper

Production Year: 2015~ 2016

Production: Salad Theater

Concept: Park Kyong Ju

Director: Park Kyong Ju

Worker’s role (Ants): Lorna de Mateo, Urna Ulranchimeg, Singh Anima, Yu Jee Hye, Choi Jeongyun

CEO’s role (Grasshopper): Park Kyong Ju

Let’s just admit the truth! The truth that artists are artists and profits are not created although art factories are built and artistic laborers are hired with a higher cost. The artists can create other products than artworks to maintain the spaces, give salaries that they promised to the laborers, become administrators to earn funds from the government, and play a CEO role for certain period of time. However, such temporary methods and contradictory dramatic situations are not sustainable.

“artists are self-employed”.  Art needed to be business so needed to have spaces and people. So employees were hired. Even though spaces and people were prepared, products were not manufactured from 9 am to 6 pm since art industry is not manufacturing industry. That is because art is not a manufacturing industry.   Art is not the business manufacturing products but a special work creating values.

Salad, a nomadic social enterprise, decided to admit the fact that we are self-employed. A role of CEO, bookkeeper, regular artistic laborer, non-regular artistic laborer, temporarily occupy unused spaces in cities for eight hours from 9 am to 6 pm a day to work for a social enterprise. They practice and work in unused spaces in cities. Their daily works will be so-called social performances. We will not be embarrassed but create artworks even though nobody asks for our artworks. Every space in cities is our stage and every citizen drifting in cities is our actors and actresses and audience.