After the Applause
The Last Carnival
PS Center (Seoul)
2025
The series After the Applause begins with a paradox—of the one who reigns under the spotlight yet is the first to be sacrificed. This figure, exalted and consumed, desired and destroyed, stands at the intersection of worship and violence. From ancient saints to modern idols, from Jesus to pop stars, the body on the altar has always been a precarious symbol caught between sanctity and collapse.
The installation comprises broken and bent stand microphones—kneeling, bound to the stage as if alive, tangled in cables. These mics, no longer tools of speech, now serve as monuments of enforced silence and public shame. In front of the stage, fans’ discarded light sticks—once instruments of adoration—now rest like relics of a sacred riot. Their fanaticism, almost religious in nature, is as beautiful as it is aggressive. These remnants visualize the emptiness after ecstasy, the neglect after worship, and the ruin that follows desire.
Applause Was the First Wound, 2025, Stainless steel, 3D-printed resin, metal chains, mixed media, 180 x 85 x 51.5 cm
After Applause, the Cracks Became the Stage, 2025, Digital print on adhesive vinyl sheet, 342 x 133 cm
Stan. Slam. Amen., 2025, Stainless steel, blown glass, carved pinewood, white gold-plated brass, gemstone beads, mixed media, 100 x 30 x 103 cm
Don’t Break Me—Just Turn, 2025, White clay with glaze, metal chain, laser-cut stainless steel, mixed media, Dimensions variable
The Wailing Wall Where the Feedback Hit Deep, 2025, Lenticular print, laser-cut stainless steel, Dimensions variable
The Wailing Wall Where the Drip Was Divine, 2025, Heat-resistant glass, Dimensions variable
Soft Where the Stem Snapped, 2025, Stainless steel, 3D-printed resin, metal chains, mixed media, 30 x 35 x 60 cm
Dead Shoes Stand at the Edge of What Comes Next, 2025, White clay with glaze, accessory elements, Y 9 x 15 x 10 cm, B 10 x 15 x 11 cm
Photo by CJYARTSTUDIO
Courtesy of the artist and PS Center, Seoul