Knuka Knayu

About

Knuka Knayu is a multidisciplinary artist based in London, originally from Korea. They graduated from Goldsmiths College studying BA Fine Art (Hons) prior to RCA. They seek to temporarily invoke a state of ‘becoming’ rather than ‘being’; a constantly shifting threshold within the absent and invisible. They use ‘Chaos’ as a method to direct their work and a use of ‘making strange’ as a focal point to bring about new modes of stimulation. Knayu interrogates their queerness, and mythological identity to break through collective confusion in order to behold spiritual agendas.

Their work is predominantly performance and includes speech, improvisations, choreography, poems and prose. The work incorporates participatory elements and spatially dominated installations that include diagrams, drawings, paintings, sculptures, sounds/music, costumes and videos. 

They fabricate disturbing and also comforting, non-linear situations, showing similarities with familiar environments, i.e. weather forecasts, funeral/wedding, comedy/quiz show, therapy session, funfair, meditation environment, horror film scene etc., subtly exaggerating and twisting familiar materials to incorporate reimagined mythological narratives and alternate historical meanings; appearing to be simultaneously archaic and contemporary.

Their practice corresponds with their anthropological research, interactions, and investigations through experiences with shamans, alchemists, cult religion members, paranormal investigators, treasure hunters, conspiracy theorists, prophets and occult groups to aggregate a shadow of social norms, structures, and boundaries which become vantage points of illusive realities. 

They consistently embody and perform monstrous and flamboyant characters outside of the ambit of conventional performance; challenging witness’ social/cultural boundaries. Through the investigations and embodiment of various characters, they receive signals and convert them to create tangible (or intangible) realms.

Statement

THICKY,

THO, I, XING

HOR

BOOK OF PerMUTATION

*lean on your laye^red skin*

+Appendiscs+

In this nautical hanage, subtimes we sublime, falling over to the topmost. 23 Synking in ornaments of sax principals, flooded by fogged prophecies.

888: A symbol of failing; acculturating metaphoric hexagram. Hence is texualised feather, stylised meader.

23: Explicit HomO-genomic decibel, ㏈ie, look out for a monolithic vision of palms.

7: Simply You, sterile startle winter = un attainted carving machine; a multigator of thunder.

4^4^: Meingling rains... permeates pathos, a transmittssed iridescent state.

6767: FreezeeD euphoric tangs of troops in a liquefied, sealed capsuloulette.

41&5. An h,our, nations of Divi-ndication, standing on illuminating chordex.

&&&. Your elective between carnaged carriers, incandesecent hyssteria & luminescent ordeal.

%%%: Act 2 of Retrieving shooting comfort via neuro-telephathy.

Neuralgia: When mutants turned up to mum gatherings, rescued from Andromeda sea shore.

Prism: Isomorphic solution for atoms when things get overheated.

AHKin: A symbol of magnetic illution. Logoed revenge.

===III

Relinkuish euphobia 

Signite carcass w/fidelity

Trigram, may you %test in peace

*

*

*

By K, ACE 4444

SLEEPAWAKE CHAOSKAMPF. A PILOT EPISODE: A CYBORG ODE

In Collaboration with:

CARELESSNESS CAUSES FIRE: SPINOFF FEAT. CARELESS LIMBS

CARELESSNESS CAUSES FIRE AND FIRE (S)IGNITES TO GALVANISE.

There are two versions of this work; a normal and a galvanised version, and there are two poems for each version. This work was produced for a group show called 'CARELESS LIMBS' at Safehouse 2 in Peckham in April which was postponed. Some of these works are going to be featured in ARC magazine: DIRTY ISSUE (Online launch on 31st July) https://arcmagazine.org/.

Contributed Artists in this group:

Jess Beige, Romane Courdacher, Alejandro Villa Duran , Natalia Levy Villa, Ana Fernanda González-Guerra Nuñez, Tamir Erlich, Noy Haimovitz, Ariel HELYES, Ed Compson, Dolly Kershaw, Kunka Knayu, KiKi Xuebing Wang

CARELESS LIMBS MANIFESTO:

Us
as
careless limbs in tree of lies
groundless
muscles without memories
co-flexing
an absolute no-brainer
burnt bubblegums in the sky
desperate departure from final cerebral bounds

all body and no soul
Infinitely thick, delirious flesh
becoming
not being
non-pulsive impulse
chaos,
no cosmos
our dirty little secrets
in rigorous segmentality

obscenity of immediate visibility

… 350 years later
wearing armrest vests
in best militaristic corsets
armed only in velvet
gaggling
‘armlessly dressed
dancing alone with nothing digested
hare
comes to fortnight-dreams
fox
becomes only monarch not left as butterflies

remembers:
monsters that humans fells in loves with in 2009s?
those hookers that died in frankenhooker?
defrosted frogs in cabaret of fears?

Upside down
a caught jester
galvanised limbs in limbos
turning
de-monstrating circulations inside and out,
like cheap palm readings

M.A.S.S.A.G.E
E.R.R.O.R
S.H.A.R.M.A

cau-shions
in the hotel room
thumbling around numb thumbs
around numb things
logging legs in
handling handles

Go on,
A-signify us
Try us

L.A. U.S.

no pro-nouns for porousness

no time for a Bit-coy

when we slowly slipperily de-sync a f

-eeling
ourselves

we are momentarily quiet

phoney temporarily

In Collaboration with:

SLEEPAWAY CHAOSKRAMPFS: EPILOGUE & PREQUEL & SPINOFFS

Multiple performances with themes of horror, comedy, & therapy. These are spinoff works from the latest project SLEEPAWAKE CHAOSKAMPF. Performances will be live over the course of two weeks.

https://www.twitch.tv/knukaknayuk

Schedule
15:00-15:20 Sun 19th
15:00-15:20 Tue 21st
20:00-20:20 Wed 22nd
14:00-14:20 Thu 23nd
18:00-18:20 Sat 25th
14:00-19:00 Sun 26th (SITUATIONIST RCA https://situationistrca.com/)
16:00-16:30 Mon 27th
19:00-19:20 Wed 29th
20:00-21:00 Thu 30th

Size: 15-20 min

DETAILS OF COSTUMES AND SCULPTURES (1)

COLLIDE: CROSS OVER

This performance is a crossover between two characters in each artist’s performance. Two characters will stand against each other, they will fight, dance, collide, and homogenise. This is part of the Situationist RCA Programme and the event will be held both online and offline.

Schedule:
13:00 28th July
16:00 29th July

https://www.twitch.tv/knukaknayuk

Size: 15-20 min

In Collaboration with:

DETAILS OF COSTUMES AND SCULPTURES (2)

DETAILS OF COSTUMES AND SCULPTURES (3)

Sponsors