photo by Karolina Miernik
Performance / Dance / Installation /Concert
‘MANSHIN’
imagetanz Festival 2025
in English / Duration: 60 minutes
{transformative forces} {Embodiment} {Speculative post-humanism}
MANSHIN investigates the complexity of identity transfor- mation in the post-digital age. Powered by the synergy of vi- sual and virtual ambiguity, Korean artist Hyeji Nam blends bodies, sound, and immersive atmospheres to lead audiences through shifting states of being and consciousness. Drawing on the ceremonial structure of Korean shamanic rituals, the tools of digital media and AI, and the expansion of Korean mythic motifs into virtual space, she builds a bridge between tradition and modernity—meditating on memory, presence, loss, and belonging at the crossroads of music, performance, and visual art.
‘MANSHIN’
imagetanz Festival 2025
in English / Duration: 60 minutes
{transformative forces} {Embodiment} {Speculative post-humanism}
MANSHIN investigates the complexity of identity transfor- mation in the post-digital age. Powered by the synergy of vi- sual and virtual ambiguity, Korean artist Hyeji Nam blends bodies, sound, and immersive atmospheres to lead audiences through shifting states of being and consciousness. Drawing on the ceremonial structure of Korean shamanic rituals, the tools of digital media and AI, and the expansion of Korean mythic motifs into virtual space, she builds a bridge between tradition and modernity—meditating on memory, presence, loss, and belonging at the crossroads of music, performance, and visual art.
Part I
Part I unfolds in searing white light and near-silence: salt sifts onto the floor and Hyeji Nam’s breath fills the void. She emp- ties herself to host a procession of glitch‐masked heads that overwrite gender, age, species and other markers before dis-solving. Viewers hover between shrine and sci‐fi lab as identity flickers and reboots.
Part II
Part II unfolds in the long foyer. A screen projects 3‐D avatar of Hyeji Nam; fog turns the image into a hovering hologram. Six ceiling speakers fill the corridor with an experi- mental, mantra‐like sound score. Water drops—one at first, then many—strike a drum in growing rhythm; each impact lights a 30 m green LED strip that guides the audience onward.
Part III happnes in darkness.
Mirroring a Korean gut, Hyeji Nam joins an electronic musician Markus Steinkellner.
Modular synth loops and drum machines spiral them into trance. Sub‐bass shakes the walls while razor‐thin beams of light slice the dark. At the climax their voices break through the electronics—raw chant and vocoder haze—then fade to silence, sealing the rite of departure.
Part I unfolds in searing white light and near-silence: salt sifts onto the floor and Hyeji Nam’s breath fills the void. She emp- ties herself to host a procession of glitch‐masked heads that overwrite gender, age, species and other markers before dis-solving. Viewers hover between shrine and sci‐fi lab as identity flickers and reboots.
Part II
Part II unfolds in the long foyer. A screen projects 3‐D avatar of Hyeji Nam; fog turns the image into a hovering hologram. Six ceiling speakers fill the corridor with an experi- mental, mantra‐like sound score. Water drops—one at first, then many—strike a drum in growing rhythm; each impact lights a 30 m green LED strip that guides the audience onward.
Part III happnes in darkness.
Mirroring a Korean gut, Hyeji Nam joins an electronic musician Markus Steinkellner.
Modular synth loops and drum machines spiral them into trance. Sub‐bass shakes the walls while razor‐thin beams of light slice the dark. At the climax their voices break through the electronics—raw chant and vocoder haze—then fade to silence, sealing the rite of departure.
photo by Daria Savytska
photo by Karolina Miernik
Credits
Concept & choreography: Hyeji Nam
Performance: Hyeji Nam, IDKLANG
Lighting design: Klimentina Li
Sound design / Composing: IDKLANG
Masks: Una Ryu
Costume design: Pouran Parvizi
Additional costume: Nina Mcnab, Markus Steinkellner
Light object & coding: Jonas Bohatsch
Object construction: Mathias Lenz, Larry Meyer
3D Character Design: NIVVA
Special thanks to Tender Matter for support and advice
A production by Hyeji Nam and partner in crime, in co-production with imagetanz 2025 / brut Wien
Funded by the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs (MA 7), the Korea Cultural Centre of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Civil Service and Sport
The project is being realised as part of the K_on_temporary initiative by the Korean Culture Center.
