The first performance yielded numerous notes that enriched subsequent performances. Amid all the busyness, I continuously received news about the passing of many survivors I knew, one by one. Some died from old age, others were struck by memory loss due to senility. There are dwindling sources that can detail the cruelty of imprisonment, torture, and social sanctions they endured throughout their lives. Soon, all these horrific events will become mere myths. Concealed, sealed in silence, and untold.

All these living facts reinforce the importance of this simple performance involving 65 people to speak through a single word hidden within an image. People can grasp the course of history without getting caught up in its major issues. Just by shouting one word, as long as it connects to the other 64 words, the Pandora’s box of civilization opens.

Being responsible for one word is the key in the performance. A word released from its context, thus having no meaning other than its lexical one. Raw and unrefined. The artist’s task is to weave these words together to form a network of meaning. The word shouted out loud is a path to the terrifying reality hidden within its dense context. Played with in a tangle of other words until, finally, at the end of the performance, it unfolds into a complete story. A tale about an old singer, imprisoned and unable to sing again, just for being on the wrong side of history.

This story is hidden within a word that’s wrapped, bent, and concealed in a simple picture. It entices people not only to remember the bigger story but to first be captivated by the image. Like moths to a flame, trapped by its brightness, then shedding their wings and either living or dying with their new reality.