For further information please download the respective Forum Expanded sheet (PDF).
The South Korean Minimum Wage Commission is an entity that negotiates and decides the next year’s minimum wage. Established in 1978, the commission’s meetings have been held behind closed doors. Thus, we can only assume and imagine the discussion of the 2015 meeting to find out how the 2016 minimum wage was decided. That is, to understand a decision about the present, we have to look back to the situation of a past meeting where the future wage was negotiated. The scenario of the 3-channel video installation Twelve is based on the content of a 2015 meeting with reference to various documents. Twelve characters represent the twelve times of the meeting. In addition, a sequentially operating, repetitive machine movement is juxtaposed with the meeting scenes. The work emphasizes the fact that what is called formal, public, and a human discussion is being held only behind closed doors or in a private space, while simultaneously questioning what the future of a nation and its democracy should be.
Jeamin Cha was born in 1986 in Seoul, South Korea, where she lives and works as an artist and filmmaker. She graduated from the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul (BFA) and Chelsea College of Design and Arts in London (MFA). She has held solo exhibitions and been part of numerous group exhibitions.
Production: Jeamin Cha, Seoul
Screenplay: Jeamin Cha
Camera: Youngjik Cho
Cast: Si Hyun Cho, Sook Hee Song, SungDae Yoon, Donghoon Lee
Format: 3-channel video installation, color
Running time: 33 min
Language: Korean
Photo: © Jeamin Cha
