Internal Other | 2019

3D animation, Full HD, 16:9, Color, stereo, approx.10 min.

Internal other focuses on the endangered fauna in the “Transboundary Protected Area” of the DMZ (the Korean Demilitarized Zone between South Korea and North Korea). For 66 years and along 155 miles, this zone has been an “accidental wildlife paradise”[1] for wild animals.[2] Among them the endangered red-crowned crane, which plays an important role in the Korean culture and tradition: it is a symbol of longevity, fidelity, morality, and auspicious sign, a spiritual vehicle for the mountain gods, a medium drifting between heaven and earth.

In Internal other I have composed a setup with animals as tribal residential populations; the red-crowned crane takes on the role of the shamanic narrator. On her “magical flight” through metaphorical and virtual landscapes, she takes us to several places in the DMZ, ranging from real to imaginary ones, i.e. to the “inner mountain snowfields” in our mind.[3]

The sound design is partly produced with low-frequency sound. It is required to listen with good quality headphones or audio systems. 

Narration Script: Link

Further information: Link

[1] Jennifer Billock, How Korea’s Demilitarized Zone Became an Accidental Wildlife Paradise, [online]https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/wildlife-thrives-dmz-korea-risk-location-180967842/, [accessed February 12, 2018].

[2] Catherine Pool, Transboundary Protected Areas as a Solution to Border Issues, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln AnthroGroup, 2006, 42p.

[3] Robert R. Desjarlais, Healing through images: The magical flight and healing geography of Nepali shamans, American Anthropological Association, 1989, 289p.

*The found footage is the documentary film 'Shamanism in Korea' from Korean Film Production in Seoul, South Korea directed by Doh Sang Sun and advised by Folklorist Prof.Tae Gon Kim.