Episode 135: Perfect Coordination
“Hello!”
As soon as Seoyeon arrived, Kang Lim took the luggage from her hands.
There was even a cart outside, filled with an enormous amount of materials.
“You should have told me. I would have come out earlier.”
“No, I thought you’d be busy setting this up.”
Melissa blinked blankly at Seoyeon.
She had light brown hair and radiant white skin.
“Wow, who is she? She’s so pretty.”
“Thank you. I’m Kang Lim’s friend. I handle curating.”
“Oh, so you’re the one who wrote the foreword for Kang Lim’s solo exhibition?”
“Yes, I design the catalogues and leaflets, and I also work with the planning team and installations. I came to help a bit because I thought it might be needed this time too.”
“Then, by any chance…”
Melissa carefully opened the box Seoyeon brought.
Inside were firm leaflets made with holographic paper.
“Amazing! I didn’t expect such a gift. It’s really cool!”
The holographic pattern was made differently.
Only the wave-patterned part was horizontal, so when shaken left and right, the light flowed sideways.
“I was going to make the guide with the computer, but I don’t need to now. This is much higher quality!”
On the back of the leaflet were simple exhibition details and participation instructions.
It also contained the important fact that files sent from the audience’s phones would all be deleted.
“I’m glad you like it.”
Seoyeon smiled bashfully at Melissa.
Although it was a small thing, she was happy when artists were pleased with her designs.
“Thank you! I was jealous of other teams. There’s a senior named Rotrick who does a lot of exhibitions and has many curators he knows, so he easily outsources designs. It’s great that we have someone like Kang Lim in our team too!”
Seoyeon smiled while setting up the camera.
She chatted with Melissa, hoping many visitors would come.
“By the way, why did you bring the camera?”
“Oh, Barbara Gallery’s lobby has a lot of TVs. Some people might be curious about the production process, so I’ll record it. Though I’m not sure if we’ll use it.”
“True, I’m curious how Kang Lim will do the makeup.”
Seoyeon adjusted the focus of the lens.
Kang Lim was setting up a large mirror on the desk.
He laid out the makeup materials he had purchased in advance and called Shin Taemin.
It was a task that took a long time, so he planned to finish it by tonight and sleep in the studio.
“Taemin, this won’t come off with water. Many of them dissolve with alcohol, so later we’ll remove everything together with a remover.”
“…Phew. I guess I’ll have to sleep sitting in a chair today.”
“Right, you know well.”
Kang Lim opened the lid of the liquid latex. The smell of rubber wafted from the container.
When mixed with flour or cotton, it was a material that could create the desired skin texture.
‘The parts of the face shown through the mask are the eyes, nose, mouth, ears…’
Kang Lim decided to do makeup matching the four concepts.
It was to highlight the characters with different actions.
“Do your role.”
At Kang Lim’s words, Shin Taemin took a deep breath.
He inhaled deeply through his nose and exhaled strongly through his mouth.
Sss- Ha!
There was a sound like his chest was clearing out.
It felt like when people entered a forest and pushed air to the ends of their lungs.
“Puhaha. I really do all sorts of things here.”
Shin Taemin burst into laughter, finding his actions amusing.
Kang Lim and Seoyeon looked at each other, seemingly surprised by his unexpected expression.
“Is it funny? It’s more surprising to see you laugh like that.”
“Ah, I was thinking about Melissa. If the information comes out printed and she sniffs it and hands it to people… it might scare the audience with the makeup.”
“True, it’s quite an alien feeling. The concept of sorting information by smell.”
Kang Lim applied spirit gum to Taemin’s neck and collarbone, around his nose, and nose area, where there were strong movements when breathing.
As the sticky adhesive smell spread, Shin Taemin frowned.
When the surface of the spirit gum dried slightly, Kang Lim took out derma wax and placed it on the bridge of Taemin’s nose.
It was silicone used to extend parts of the human body.
He molded it from the bridge of the nose to the cartilage at the tip, rolling it until it curled like butterfly antennae.
It expressed the sensitivity of finding the location of flowers by smell.
“Ha. That’s creepy.”
Shin Taemin sighed, looking at the now tube-like nose tip.
Kang Lim, unfazed by his reaction, spread Vaseline.
As the oil melted, the boundary between the real nose and silicone blurred.
“Doesn’t it look more realistic now?”
“…Yeah. It looks like you were born with this nose.”
Kang Lim immediately mixed liquid latex with flour and applied it to the skin.
The collarbone and neck area became rough in an instant.
Over it, he attached mold-shaped silicone rolled up.
Even the bumpy flesh on the surface was filled.
“Wow. It looks like a turkey!”
Seoyeon zoomed the camera lens, listening to Melissa.
Magnifying the made-up skin made it feel like discovering a new creature.
Kang Lim opened the skin illustrator and soaked a sponge.
It was a makeup paint that could create various skin tones.
‘Soaking the sponge avoids brush marks, making it look much more natural.’
He applied blue overall and added a bit of purple to make it look bruised.
It was a paint that adjusted its concentration with alcohol. Adding a bit could make it too thick, making it difficult to express.
‘Thank goodness I practiced in advance…’
As Shin Taemin’s skin turned blotchy, he applied pre-melted gelatin.
Adding a moist texture made the aurora-like colors stand out.
“Wow. If you do this to the entire face, no one would recognize Taemin!”
Melissa felt it was a pity that only the nose, arms, and neck area exposed while in costume were made up.
It was surprising how performance characters could be maximized this way through makeup.
“If we covered all his skin, he’d feel suffocated.”
At Kang Lim’s words, both Seoyeon and Melissa laughed together.
“And this is just the first stage of makeup. We need to refine the details more. Silicone absorbs paint differently from real skin, so we have to check the colors constantly while layering.”
Shin Taemin sniffed as he looked in the mirror.
The changed skin twitched, looking bizarre.
“The more I see it, the more I like it. But, are you going to do your makeup yourself?”
“Yeah, I can just look in the mirror.”
“How will you draw with your left hand?”
“I’m ambidextrous.”
“…You show your signature move even here.”
“Haha. Do I?”
As Kang Lim started his own makeup, Melissa came closer.
She thought Kang Lim’s role was the most crucial, creating the character’s actions.
“Kang Lim, you have to wear a mask that shows your eyes and guide the audience, so you’re the overall performance coordinator!”
“Yes, eye makeup is essential. If I don’t like it, I’ll erase it and do it again, so watch.”
Kang Lim recalled the action guidelines and character concept Melissa had written.
It was a role of looking at the audience with emotionless eyes, without the slightest movement.
Receiving a phone, connecting it to the computer, and processing only the information, like a machine.
‘I have to make it so that even people who know my face won’t recognize me.’
Kang Lim sharply honed a dark gray multi-pencil.
Drawing lines extending the inner and outer corners of his eyes, his gentle eyes turned sharp.
‘Eyes that seem uninterested in anything… I need to make it the opposite of Taemin’s skin texture.’
He dusted a round brush with grime powder.
It was used to depict rough, dirty skin in war movies.
‘Since I shouldn’t look like someone who rolled in dirt, I’ll apply a light gray tone.’
As he dyed his eyebrows and eyelashes, he looked dry as if he had come out from under a pile of concrete.
Even without thinking sad thoughts, he appeared dark and twisted.
‘If I wear lenses to change my eye color to gray, it’ll look unfocused.’
At first glance, it seemed calm, but in reality, it was an unresponsive state to external stimuli.
When the audience arrived, he would process tasks while staring into space.
“Wow! It’s perfect. Just the image I was thinking of!”
Melissa taught Kang Lim how to relax his muscles and let his body sag.
Kang Lim lowered his gaze and acted out working calmly.
“Great! When Kang Lim does that, I’ll place my left hand against the empty wall and circle around the space. Wearing a mask that only shows my mouth, I can mumble. I’ll remind the audience how to participate in the performance.”
Melissa circled the exhibition hall.
She walked flexibly and slowly, like someone moving underwater.
It made the viewers feel like they were sinking into the deep sea.
She exuded mystery with her free use of her body.
A natural-born performance artist.
‘What’s more remarkable is the way she guides the audience… Melissa must have swallowed autotune.’
Kang Lim was fascinated by Melissa’s ability to produce a robotic voice without any special sound equipment.
He thought she would do well as a voice actor.
In fact, some of the voice actors in Transformers didn’t use mechanical sounds.
‘I should incorporate that characteristic into the makeup.’
Kang Lim gave Melissa’s skin a strong contrast and applied a highlighter.
Adding glitter made the surface look metallic.
He attached parts to the tops of her feet, which would be exposed while walking barefoot around the exhibition.
The sparkling cubic pieces resembled barnacles stuck to rocks.
Melissa cheered, watching her transforming limbs.
It had been a long time since she dressed up for a performance, making her happy.
“Really, what should I do? It seems even more fun than I imagined! My heart is already racing.”
Seoyeon captured Melissa’s wriggling toes with the camera.
She slowly raised the camera to capture her joyful face. She couldn’t help but smile.
Just then, the door banged open, and a mischievous voice was heard.
“Hey, you guys! Are you having fun without me? Do you know how important ears are to facial features?”
Baudouin placed two large boxes at the door.
The team members, now colorful with makeup, all looked at him simultaneously.
Seeing their faces properly for the first time, Baudouin screamed.
“Argh! Did you already do the makeup?”
The team members, now as pale as Baudouin, rushed towards him.
It felt like being surrounded by strange creatures.
“No, it looks like we should film a movie… It’s a waste to remove the makeup after tomorrow’s performance.”
No one answered Baudouin’s question.
The team was only interested in opening the boxes he brought.
“Wow! Cool.”
“…Amazing. You’re really a designer.”
As expected.
The boxes were filled with completed costumes.
“Crazy. So, you can actually make this yourself.”
Kang Lim opened his mouth in awe.
It was fashion that implemented the desired parts from his sketches and completed the reform.
Baudouin also upgraded the clothes according to the concepts of eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
‘Such perfect coordination… a team that understands without needing words.’
Had he ever done such a group project?
At that moment, the poignant emotion of sudden realization washed over him.
Melissa shouted again.
“Whoa! It’s not just clothes. There are hats and accessories too!”
She opened the second box and showed them.
“……”
In the moment of silence.
Seoyeon slowly turned the camera to capture the team members’ faces.
Everyone had the same expression.
Faces that said it would be a blast tomorrow.
Sera went out for the first time in a while.
After staying in the studio, it felt refreshing to take a bus and go out.
She got off in front of Paris Beaux-Arts, enjoying the gentle breeze.
Fresh trees at the entrance gate were flaunting their vitality.
“Hello. Please take a campus map!”
“Thank you.”
Art students handed Sera a guide.
It was a seating chart with the students’ names.
It meant she could freely visit and look around the studios.
‘Famous figures also visit during Beaux-Arts Open Day, so it’s a good opportunity for college students… there are many people.’
The open studio event at Paris Beaux-Arts that starts with the end of the semester.
Since it was an event where studios were open to the public, it attracted a huge crowd.
‘Kang Lim’s performance is still far off… I’ll check out other works first.’
Sera confirmed the presentation times listed on the guide.
She decided to start with the first students performing.
‘Two years ago, Thom Browne held a show here.’
Entering the auditorium, she saw it filled with chairs.
It was a place originally used as a runway, often visited during fashion weeks.
The floor with a beautiful pattern symbolizing the sun and stars. The red walls draped like crimson curtains…
The antique building itself reflected history, making it a great focus point for everyone.
‘What’s that?’
There was a unique object on the floor.
It was a device and handcuffs that could restrain a person.
‘They must have set it up in advance for the performance.’
When the scheduled time arrived, the chandelier light in the center of the auditorium went out.
The slightly dimmed lights revealed students walking out. No, they were dragged out bound.
One person tied the ones hung by ropes to the floor.
They were wearing prisoner uniforms reminiscent of Papillon.
‘Papillon was imprisoned for a murder he didn’t commit. Does it imply people who are actually innocent?’
The lights in the auditorium came back on.
The prisoners on the floor writhed in pain as if tormented by the light.
They squirmed like worms just stepped on.
‘Their acting is good.’
Sera smiled while looking around.
The audience was flinching along with the performance.
“Argh!”
One of the suffering people suddenly stood up.
The cold handcuffs and the fixed metal pieces were cut off.
He rose and showed the torn metal pieces to the people.
In reality, it was just a drawing on thick paper.
However, the other prisoners, knowing that, remained still.
They constrained themselves and couldn’t leave their place.
‘The fear that suppresses oneself might actually be nothing… It’s about breaking away from manipulated fears.’
The person who enjoyed freedom alone left, and the remaining people continued to twist their bodies.
When the painful movements disappeared, stopping as if dead, the performance ended.
Sera clapped along with the audience.
Since the space itself was similar to a theater, the focus was heightened.
The central auditorium of Beaux-Arts symbolized authority, adding context.
‘It’s really good. There are certainly many talented students. If it’s hard to direct a stage yourself, finding a place that fits well is an eye.’
The next students’ performance was replaced by a screen.
It was a work done outside, not within the school.
The students walked around Montmartre Basilica, commemorating the victims of the Paris Commune.
This place, which had become the grave of revolutionary workers. They performed by sticking tape in the cracks of the walls.
It intuitively revealed the meaning of healing.
“Haha. This is interesting too.”
After appreciating the second performance, Sera stood up.
Her expectations rose higher as she watched good works.
She walked around the studio, reviewing students’ individual works and checking the time.
It was time for Kang Lim’s performance to begin.
