The resistance of the monstrous identity

South-Korean performer Kidows Kim is an expert in mime, and is fascinated by manga and monsters. His intimate creations, such as FUNKENSTEIN (2021), are full of highly imaginative beings. Its sequence, CUTTING MUSHROOMS, is influenced by the cyberpunk film Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) directed by Shinya Tsukamoto, in which a man transforms into a hybrid creature, between human and metal.

In this performance by Kidows Kim, you will once again meet a strange and confusing figure. You will recognise objects and fabrics in the figure, but exactly whom you are seeing will remain unclear. It keeps wandering between the violence of the environment and Kim’s strategies for dealing with that violence. Because what is the meaning of ‘self-preservation’ when you are continuously transforming?

CUTTING MUSHROOMS is a solo performance about how society views ambiguity as something monstrous. Kim’s transformation is a personal act of resistance. Step into his dystopian universe … where real world conflicts are turned inside out.

Combine ‘Cutting Mushrooms’ on Saturday 1 July with ‘Le chant du psychophone’ by Antonia Baehr, ‘Landing on Feathers’ by Jija Sohn, Aleksandra Lemm & Julia Reist and ‘The Third Room’ by Christine De Smedt, Liza Baliasnaja & Theo Livesey.
Combine ‘Cutting Mushrooms’ on Sunday 2 July with ‘Le chant du psychophone’ by Antonia Baehr, ‘I, Too, Overflow’ by Ève Gabriel Chabanon and ‘Landing on Feathers’ by Jija Sohn, Aleksandra Lemm & Julia Reist.