Jeongga(正歌) is the most natural voice that a human body can produce.
‘Jeong'(正) means to make everything correct and refined, while 'jeongga' refers to the songs set to the lyric of traditional Korean sijo, gagok or gasa.
Yee Sookyung is the artist who renders the essence of contemporary art with delicate and witty touches. The 'jeongga' performance of vocalist Jung Marie struck her as the most spiritual, beautiful, and mysterious state of art and this became the inspirational moment in which the two artists joined forces to create a sublime form of art.
The exhibition occasioned by the encounter of the two artists is not just a process to produce the background of a performance. Energies are emanated from different fields of art and blended to create the third form of artistic creation. It is also the stage and space created with Yee Sookyung's endless respect to Jung Marie.
An Arko Art Center Contest-winning Exhibition
<Jung Marie's Jeongga, Yee Sookyung's Devotion>, the exhibition and performance that presents the encounter of contemporary art and traditional Korean music, is to be held at Arko Art Center from December 18(Sat), 2010 through January 23(Sun), 2011 under the auspices of the Arts Council Korea. Prepared by "Willing N Dealing Art Consulting" (Director: Kim Inseon), the project won the 2010 exhibition contest held by Arko Art Center. Without limiting the form of art to visual one, the exhibition presents both visual art and aural art in one space and suggests how the two art forms can enhance each other. The symbiosis of different art forms will actually show each other to advantage and lead the audiences to feel a differentiated kind of sensation.
Jung Marie studied traditional Korean music. After graduating from the Gukak National High School (which is devoted to teaching traditional Korean arts), she studied at the Seoul National University and Graduate School. She has engaged herself in various artistic fields such as traditional music, performance, theater, and sound producing. Yee Sookyung, a contemporary artist using multi-media, has been recently working on the <Translated Vase> series, in which she revitalizes discarded things. In her <Daily Drawing> series, she records spontaneous feelings and inspiration. For this exhibition, she is going to display 160 pieces of drawing inspired by her experience of listening to Jung Marie's jeongga, Buddhist bumpai music, and Gregorian chants.
Jung Marie's Unique Presentation of Jeongga Where the Present and the Spiritual Intersect
The exhibition space is divided into the first floor which characterizes the present with the performance of jeongga sung by the gisaeng, the female entertainers of the Joseon Dynasty, and the second floor that is transformed into a spiritual space inspired by religious feelings.
The first floor space is exclusively created for the singing performance so the design aims at maximizing and optimizing the visual effects for the performance which lasts for one hour. The long corridor-like stage receives the maximum lighting in contrast with the dark surroundings so that the performer would look like flying in the air. Then the audiences can have a feeling that they are watching the performer, who exists in a different time and space setting from theirs. Jung Marie is going to sing seven sijo songs of her choice for the one-hour performance.
The audiences can feel their senses purified and made more sensitive through the sound they hear and the displayed drawings at second floor. . Religious music with Latin lyrics such as original Gregorian chants, Stabat Mater, and Magnificat are arranged in the style of traditional Korean lied or Bumpai, Buddhist chant, will lead the audiences to a unique world of Jung Marie's jeongga music.
