Description (A Study of the Social Identity of Women with
Disabilities)
According
to the Korea National Statistical Office 2002 data, there are a total of 4.7
million people with disabilities in South Korea, a proportion of the population
similar to that found worldwide. The number is increasing every year. The social
conditions for the disabled in South Korea, however, have fallen far behind
much of the rest of the world.
Half Moon addresses the social anguish of women with disabilities
represented by Mi-Kyeong Lee, a physically handicapped 33-year-old woman. The overall project consisted of four stages:
creating a story through conversation and literature, character design of her
body, animation, and performance presentation.
I shaped her image as a half moon representing the paralyzed half
of her body with her full support and enthusiastic collaboration. In the process of revisiting her story, I asked:
What is the boundary that defines “disability” in society, and what constitutes
the notion of an “imperfect” human life? This improvisational performance with screen animation indirectly
functioned as art therapy, as she finally found an important clue to overcome
her introspective character that originated with her physical difficulty.
For
reference, this work is an animation section
independently created and directed by myself that comprises the second Act of
the one hour media performance Dool-monzit (that is composed of
four Acts). It was presented as a stand-alone art program in July, 2002.
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