The Divers was a site-specific immersive performance staged in the former water intake facility beneath the Seoul Street Arts Creation Center.
The work began with the idea of “going under”, which can suggest immersion and descent, as well as disappearance and loss.
The performance followed two figures. The Diver disappears, while The Drifter is left behind.
Audiences moved between the basement levels as the relationship unfolded. Each floor placed them in a different position in relation to the performers, so the same characters could be perceived differently from one moment to the next.
The vertical structure of the building gave this relationship a spatial form.
Methods
Spatial Dramaturgy
The site’s vertical structure organised changing relationships between performers and audience.
Audience Movement
Audiences moved upward, changing their height, orientation and proximity to the performers.
Sightline
Looking up, across and down shaped how the relationship could be perceived.
01. Vertical Dramaturgy
Position shaped perception.
The performance was structured around the audience’s movement between floors.
At first, the audience stood beside the Diver on a lower level and looked up at the Drifter. Later, they moved upward and stood beside the Drifter, with the Diver now below them.
The Drifter then descended in search of the Diver and later attempted to climb upward again. The audience continued to move through the building, seeing the relationship from a new position at each stage.
In the final scene, the Diver appeared behind the audience. Their position shifted once more, creating a final reversal in how the two figures were perceived.
02. Architecture as Dramaturgy
The building shaped the relationship.
The performance used the vertical structure of the former water intake facility as part of its dramaturgy.
As audiences moved between floors, their position in relation to the performers changed. A character seen from below could feel different when encountered at the same height or viewed from above.
The building therefore shaped how the relationship was read. Its depth and changes in level gave emotional shifts a physical form.
The idea of “going under” was also experienced through the site itself. Descent suggested both immersion and disappearance, connecting the narrative directly to the architecture.
Spatial Sequence
The sequence moved from below, to the same level, to above, before ending with a final reversal.
Project reflections
01
Viewpoint is spatial
Where the audience stood changed how each figure was perceived.
02
Movement can shift alignment
Moving between floors changed which figure the audience felt closer to.
03
Architecture can embody emotional change
Changes in level gave shifts in the relationship a physical form.
Project information
Title
The Divers
Format
Site-specific immersive performance
Venue
Seoul Street Arts Creation Center, basement levels 1–4, Seoul, Korea
