You Make Me Feel So (1917)
트Generation, with Soohyun Choi, 2018
K-pop project: 트Generation
[Transgeneration]*
“... let's make it real tho” Revolutionary defeatism as a pop song to learn and sing.
Starting from the present virtual state of exception (2017-18 -> ?), this music video project considers whether kpop has latent kommunist potential.
Anticipating the revolt of Korean women against still dominant gender/class & race binaries, the video reaches across the demilitarized zone (DMZ) as it follows the psychedelic journey of 2 young lovers on a magic memory foam mattress soaring beyond race, class and gender.
With the help of a cameo from the great Harisu, Korea’s first transgender pop star, the denouement pits trans love against conscripted (terf?) war.
You Make Me Feel So (1917) is a trans-kommunist anti-militarist anthem from the era of Trump 1.0 and BLM. As we segue to proxy and trade wars maybe it’s getting more (un)timely?
동무: Dongmo: Friend/comrade
K-pop = Kommunist pop with 동무- character-istics
동무 may be ultimately of Sino-Korean origin, from 동모 (同謀, dongmo, “planning together; complotting; collusion”). 동무 (dongmu) was originally a non-ideological, neutral word for "friend" once used all over the Korean Peninsula, but North Koreans later adopted it as the equivalent of the Communist term of address "comrade".
Music, concept, video – B. Seymour.
Research, discussion, translation, vocals – Soohyun Choi