Seven Days, Almost Nothing

2024

Video, 18:59, three pigment prints, image size 45 x 69 cm

Video and photo documentation of a performance where I returned to the same place every day for seven days. Surrounded by the sounds of nature, I draped myself over a rock in the nude and remained very still. I turned myself into a Tableau Vivant; a theatrical living picture with a classical nude and landscape, combined. The title is a homage to the composer Luc Ferrari and a work of his entitled Presque Rien. By committing myself to returning to the same pose for seven days, I had also committed myself to doing almost nothing. To staying still whilst being vulnerable to my surroundings.

My mind wandered. At some moments, I imagined I was a sleeping faun, a part of Nature. At others I could barely think because of the mosquitoes. At times, I was worried about being caught doing something “inappropriate”.

With my body pressed onto the rock’s hard and uncomfortable surface, I started to see this simple ritual as a manifestation of resilience. And moreover, resistance: Resistance to the Attention Economy, resistance to constant stimulation, and resistance to expectations to do something or be someone.

Seven Days, Almost Nothing also has a personal story. Growing up knowing I am gay I often felt obliged to mask myself for my own safety. Beyond metaphor, I quite literally blended into my environment to make myself acceptable to the society around me.

Text: Tanya Kim