Ari Kim (she/her)
Lighting designer
Lighting designer
I was born during very hectic times in South Korea. Everything changed when the new millennium started - politically, socially, and economically. I was a coward and questioned everything, but my curiosity remained intact. I finally had the bravery to leave everything behind and moved to New York City to study lighting design and experience a society where various backgrounds from all over the world would meet.
I observe that people here in NYC are living in a system of meanings, constantly making, trying to understand the meaning of life.
As a lighting designer and a theatre artist, the meanings of emotions and feelings which are non-verbal languages stimulated through human senses are the most important and powerful language in the theatrical art, such as ways of speaking, movements, shapes, perspective and even smells. However, unlike other art forms, performances are easy to be forgotten, because of its characteristic - temporal art.
I want to capture a slice of that art and make them longer. Using my memories, collaborators’ who have diverse experiences in their lives, and using media to form my art.
I’d like to find out sensory impulses from these and make a way to present what we really want to say by this unique art form- like white noise or wildfire.
I believe that by these examples, we are going to create, suspend time and impact our spectators.