Rae-Yen Song: ▷▥◉▻

Shae Myles - 19th March 2022

When I go and see an exhibition, right before I enter the gallery, I get super nervous. Every time. Idk if it’s an adrenaline thing or a feeling of anticipation or worry that I won't understand or will feel disappointed by the work… I just get nervous, but usually in a good way. I won't typically do much research prior to my visit - maybe I’ll have seen a poster or something on insta and that will usually be enough to make me wanna pencil it into my diary. I go out of my way to not read the accompanying text or visit the official website or stalk the artist’s insta before seeing the show irl, just bc a voice in my head always says “don’t spoil it!!!” I feel the same way about movie trailers - hate them and actively avoid them if I can help it. 

I spent the weekend with my bf in Dundee and saw that DCA had two shows to offer us. This was v exciting for two reasons: 1. My new year's resolution was to see more art irl and I had not stuck to that, and 2. I’ve never been to a gallery with Blaine since we started dating in December so i was eager to hear his thoughts and see these works alongside him : ) 

These are my notes on one of the shows, Rae-Yen Song’s latest body of work, titled ▷▥◉▻ and said “seoh.”

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We headed into the gallery, where were greeted by a large sculptural bug that towered over us. It stood firmly and confidently in place in the centre of the room, making me feel tiny and insignificant, but also welcome and strangely comforted, as if it was familiar to me. Its seventeen long gangly legs were brightly coloured and covered in spots that reminded me of how germs look in a petri dish under a microscope. They were wearing shoes that had big eyes and long tongues pointing directly out of their mouths. This sculpture was placed on a large red carpet, and at the centre of that, underneath the belly of the bug, sat a small figure dressed in a vibrantly coloured and deliciously textured dress. The dress had silk panelling, delicate strings of small pearls, tiny tassel details and a gorgeous hem that I looked at and thought would be so pretty to twirl around in. The grey figure wearing it had a very serious expression - a downturned red mouth and hollow black eyes. 

We were invited to take off our shoes if we wanted to walk on the carpet underneath the centre sculptural work. There were people inside already, so we took a moment and stood and gazed up at the giant bug-like creature that loomed over us. I say loomed, only to indicate the size of it; it was a friendly kind of looming, heightened by the colour and pattern and funny little shoes it was wearing. We made our way round to the left hand side of the room, past the giant bug, and to the side of a tent structure, where a little grey head was projecting a gorgeous video piece onto an oval screen. 

The video made me feel like I was falling but in a really nice way. I felt a surge of emotion while watching the animation unfold, because there was a real sense of innocence to the drawings and the way they moved. We both felt captivated by the sound that accompanied the work, and when you really focussed on the bubbling belly sounds, it brought to life the figures and their movements and the environments they swam in. Gentle low gong rumblings, wailing and water sounds zipped around us, transporting us deeper into the work, and allowing us to fall harder into the story. The video switched from this to a shot that was taken from above the sculpture that was inside the bug. I felt a real sense of calm while watching the second part, it kinda gave me asmr vibes - it was mesmerising, like watching a jellyfish swim in slowmo.

The gallery then started to quieten down, so we took off our shoes as instructed and headed over to the red carpet. Feeling the carpet’s softness under my socks made me feel at home, welcomed, relaxed. Like I was walking through my parent’s living room on a quiet Saturday morning. Moving around under the bug was really nice, like we were entering some kind of portal. We went inside the tent, which was made up of grey panels meticulously sewn together to create a darkened, otherworldly hub. The sound that echoed out around us was eerie but also comforting, kinda like whale sounds or what I’d imagine the inside of a whale’s belly would sound like when he’s lying on the ocean floor having just had a really good dinner. 

There were faces everywhere you looked. On the bottom of feet, hidden underneath bellies, drawn on a mirror. Upon entering the tent structure, we were met by a grey cauldron that stood on claw-like feet and had a big O shaped mouth protruding out of its side. Its contents was a swirling luminous green animation that resembled a witches brew. Above the cauldron hung a beautiful blue figure with many faces and four legs. It was intricate yet bold, and the more you looked, the more wonderful detail you spotted - teeth and tongue on their side, nipples and noses on their underbelly… Blaine pointed out the shadows it was casting around the tent, and that we too were casting dark shadows, directly involving us in the work. It reminded me of when you’re camping as a kid and you make dogs and bats with your hands in the light of a torch on the side of the tent. The same video from the outside that the little grey head had been projecting was playing on the inside too, and at the very back of the tent hung a large glossy red ring. At the centre of it, was a mirror with a golden bug that looked to me as though it had been fossilised. There were drawings surrounding it, and it kinda looked like it was at the centre of the universe. We made our way out of the tent slowly, and I felt like I’d just been read a bedtime story, perfectly crafted, reassuring and warm.  

“I really liked that,” I turned to Blaine and said. “I really really liked that.” To which he told me he did too. He felt differently about it. I came out of the gallery feeling comforted, fuzzy and cosy, but also a little sad. He found it unsettling, like he’d stumbled into someone else’s dream, uninvited into their unknown. 

You can read more about the show and watch Song’s artist interview here.