OUST Project (2016-2017) educates the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) and Chicago population at large about the 2016-2017 presidential political scandal in South Korea through my performances as a standing banner/newsstand. OUST Project was conducted before and after the end of South Korean former leader Park Geun-hye’s presidency.

Park Geun-hye and the Choi Soon-sil Gate scandal involved the influence of Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of shaman-esque cult leader Choi Tae-min, over President Park Geun-hye. Widespread coverage of this South Korean political scandal began in late October 2016. On December 21, a Special Prosecution Team began to investigate the Park-Choi Gate scandal. On March 10, 2017, The Constitutional Court of Korea ruled to uphold the impeachment of President Park Geun-Hye. All eight judges agreed that Park abused her power as a president.

OUST Project started since the end of 2016 when the scandal was spotlighted by the global news media. As an artist-activist, I worked to educate myself and others on the power of law, democracy, and the public’s voice through performances, paintings, installations, and graphic designs. Using protest banner board as a medium, I printed a quote: “Oust, President Park Geun-hye” one side and “박근혜 퇴진” in Korean on the other. As it was an actual phrase used by many protestors in South Korea at that time, I re-presented both South Korea’s contemporary demonstration culture and Korean public voices in the United States of America. South Korea was mainly known for Korean pop music and soap opera culture among American and non-Korean communities. But, since the Korean artist blacklists created by the Park regime were revealed, I (then as an AIC student) felt the urgency of educating people out of the indifference and ignorance of their and another country’s sociopolitical issues.

The OUST Project was performed throughout the City of Chicago. I performed in front of the Harris Theater, at the “Inspired Korea in Chicago,” an event organized by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea and Korean Cultural Center of Chicago in December 2016. Here, I was called by old Korean ladies the “follower of North Korea 빨갱이,” a word commonly used by the Korean conservatives to devalue the liberal supporters of South Korea, and Chicago Police officers inspected my surroundings for potential danger. Although I performed numerously in front of different AIC buildings, not a single Korean student participated the performance, but rather remained silent.