Sung Neung Kyung

This work condenses the sound and object from Sung Neung Kyung’s performance Ssaeng~ Whik! Staged in response to the government censorship and editorial control that had persisted since the 1970s, the performance marked a shift in the artist’s practice—from metaphorical expression to a more direct articulation—following the December 12–3 Martial Law Incident. Recalling his childhood memory of being disciplined with a birch rod, the artist prepared a birch branch over six months and wielded it while calling out the names of those in power. This performance stands as a rare moment in Sung’s five-decade practice when metaphor gave way to explicit voice.This work brings together the bush clover branch used in the performance and the recorded sound of the act as a single, integrated object, allowing viewers to experience the performance through its physical presence and resonant sound. It invites the audience to encounter the energy, rhythm, and tension of the original gesture in a renewed sensory form, where the traces of time and action unfold as a new field of perception.