Haedong Lee has been active in interdisciplinary works including sound performance, record, video and installation.
He has embodied the Sound Ecosystem, where the spacetime of sublime notes intertwines with unexpected sounds, utilizing various sound objects and electronic instruments. Furthermore, he endeavor to cultivate a distinctive Sound Ecosystem, employing it as his primary means of eliciting emotional responses, stimulating intellectual engagement, and embodying my artistic expression.
Haedong has explored the answer to the Origin of Sound through the work of collecting and structuring the material of sound. Furthermore, he has focused on Sound as a medium that has allowed humans to reign as the top predator for centuries.
In search of the origins of sound as a medium and sound objects, he has been studying shamanism, folk beliefs, rituals, ceremonies, and labor songs from various tribes and cultures in West Africa, Asia, and Europe, learning how to play and produce sound objects.
He has released [DOKKAEBI PLAY] out of curiosity about the sound of the beginning of mankind. Performances such as [TOKKIKO CEREMONY] and [Air of the time] and installation works such as [Magnificent hideout], [Sound Ritual] were based on ponderings upon rituals and ceremonies where historically sound was used as the major medium. Since then, through critical thinking about the role of Sound, which has driven the development of human civilization, he has performed [Ecology of Death and Annihilation] and established the concept of [The Sound of Restriction].
The approaching Sixth Mass extinction on Earth, caused by diverse man-made problems, is currently one of the most significant issues to him. According to the research of experts, the primary species expected to go extinct in the Sixth Mass Extinction is Homo-Sapiens, the human being.
He has thought that accepting human extinction is the best alternative for the Earth and non-human beings in a broad sense the long term, based on the philosophy of Misanthropy, which despise human beings, and Anti-natalism, advocating that ‘Non-being is better than being’. Furthermore, He believes that ‘We are the only species evolved enough to consciously go extinct for the good of all life, or which needs to.’
Disgusted by the social indifference to this critical issue and the human species’ relentless pursuit of desire. He concluded that, as an artist, it is his responsibility to ignite social discussions. With the view that SOUND has played a major role in humans becoming the devastative top predator and led to the Anthropocene, he has explored the context in which Sound has been used politically and economically in the history of civilization.
Recently, through the series [The Sound of Restriction] inspired by Cowbell, the shackles of sound trapping the bodies of non-human beings who were relegated from animals to livestock and sacrificed by humans for a long time, he is developing a structure for his sound objects. Just as mankind has historically embodied the material, shape, and operation method of sound objects for imprisonment, He has envisioned a new shackle for the mankind(homo-sapiens) that will be created by the forthcoming species alongside homo-sapiens gradual extinction, calling it Sapiens Bell.
Ultimately, Haedong wants to be a pioneer in creating a sound that denies the existence of mankind. As far as Human extinction concerned as an artist, he endeavors to provoke social discussions on the end of the current Anthropocene by presenting a new perspective.
