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Play the name

Are we trapped by the names we give?

Julie Hyunkyung Cheon

'Play the Name' is an interactive installation that challenges the habit of confining the world to mere names. It turns everyday names into melodies, freeing them from their linguistic labels. Visitors are invited to choose a name and hear it anew.

Familiar, Unfamiliar

We often confine ourselves and the world around us to their names, limiting our experience to simple words. Yet they carry contexts that transcend their names. How we relate to them, the sensations they evoke, and the memories embedded within them create a unique, personal meaning for each of us. 'Play the Name' challenges this habit by turning everyday names into musical scores, played back on a music box.

A specialized tool transforms each letter of a name into a note, turning the word itself into an unpredictable, delicate melody. This frees the name from its label, allowing it to be heard anew. This interactive installation invites visitors to choose a name, listen to the melody it becomes, and build their own perspective on it.

When a mundane word we use every day resounds as an unpredictable melody, the familiar becomes beautifully unfamiliar.

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About Iji Shin

Iji Shin is a Korean object and spatial designer, graduated from the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. She aims to provoke a perspective shift toward the familiar, revealing its hidden potential. Her work reinterprets the ordinary through interactive experiences that invite questions and new ways of seeing.

Julie Hyunkyung Cheon

Julie Hyunkyung Cheon

Julie Hyunkyung Cheon

Sectie-C area, Sectie-C Punt-C Industriële hotspot, Daalakkersweg 10-16 - Hal 10 , Map No. H7
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Not Wheelchair Accessible
Wifi available
Dogs allowed
Toilets available