Haegue Yang 양혜규 梁慧圭 / Star-Crossed Rendezvous after Yun, Leap Year, Hayward Gallery, London

Yang has long been interested in the late Korean composer and political dissident Isang Yun (1917–1995). In 1967 Yun was abducted by the South Korean government and accused of being a North Korean spy along with hundreds of other intellectuals. He was imprisoned and tortured, only released after two years thanks to an international campaign to secure his freedom. He settled in Germany and never returned to Korea in his lifetime.

The new installation _Star-Crossed Rendezvous after Yun_ features a composition of mono-coloured layers of Venetian blinds in varying formations, accompanied by two stage lights and Yun’s musical score _Double Concerto_ (1977). A concerto typically features a solo instrument, however this composition exceptionally has two. It is loosely based on a Korean folk tale in which a princess (the harp) falls in love with a cowherd (the oboe). Their forbidden love results in their banishment to opposite sides of the galaxy. Once a year, they have a reunion aided by birds who build a bridge. For Yun, the tale of star-crossed lovers acts as a metaphor for his advocacy for peace on the Korean peninsula and eventual unification of the two Koreas.

Bearing Yun’s conflicted life, Yang weaves his music into her installation. The ascending and descending levels of Venetian blinds, depending on your perspective, are permeated by two moving lights on opposite sides of the room, yet become synchronised with one another when Double Concerto is playing. Resembling a partially constructed bridge, the work conjures the hardship of exile and separation, but also the jubilation of being reunited.