IMMABB (I’M MAKING A BOY BAND) is an ongoing art project, documentary film and business endeavor by Bora Kim, Karin Kuroda and Samantha Y. Shao that began in 2014 during Kim’s MFA program at Columbia University. Their K-pop boy band, EXP, is made up of five members from different backgrounds–Hunter, Frankie, Šime, Tarion and Koki. They are young, good-looking and arguably as talented as K-pop stars. The only difference? None of them are Korean.
Since its establishment, IMMABB has received media exposure and also fueled heated online debates. Their performance was included as part of a SCREEN-curated performance program, What Kind of Technology is Culture?
EXP – LUV/WRONG (Official Music Video). Courtesy of IMMABB
Yu-Chieh Li (YCL): Your K-pop boy band “EXP” has caused a stir in New York and online among K-pop fans. Can you talk about its reception among K-pop fans and describe briefly what the day to day experience of working on this project is like?
When our project first became controversial amongst K-pop fans, the hateful backlash that EXP received was based on Instagram pictures of the boys, rather than our music, as we had yet to release any songs. One of the most surprising things was a K-pop forum site that posted a poll asking: “Which group do you like more: EXO [a famous K-pop band] or EXP?” After answering, you were prompted to respond to the question, “why?” with two options: “because I like Asian men,” or “because I like white/black men.” The poll not only lumps “white/black men” into one category, it also situates them opposition to Asian men.
In addition to death threats and offensive racial comments like these, we’ve been pretty surprised by the homophobic comments we get from K-pop fans. Though K-pop stars are often called “gay,” “girly” or “weak,” these comments usually come from people unfamiliar with the look of K-pop. In utilizing the visual language of K-pop for EXP we’ve seen that, though the culture of K-pop has created a new kind of masculinity and performed sexuality, this aesthetic and identity is somehow not accepted for Western boys. These tensions are at the root of ideas we are trying to explore with EXP.
Our day to day routine is extremely varied but never dull. Our Monday went something like this: Checked social media (by now, we’ve learned to expect lots of rude comments before morning coffee… perhaps not great for our psychological health), uploaded new content to social media, oversaw EXP’s Korean language lesson, had a 20-minute team debriefing en route to the boys’ dance rehearsal, evaluated a gallery space for an upcoming show, had a 2nd debriefing with our production assistant, Joo, checked in with our choreographer Lane, and filmed the day’s dance rehearsal to send the boys, attended the bell hooks’ talk with Laurie Anderson and Theaster Gates, got home and worked on press releases for upcoming events, sent our producer feedback on EXP’s next single and brainstormed ideas for album concepts.
YCL: Who is your target audience for this K-Pop band?
Our target audience is K-pop fans, which, based on one’s familiarity with the genre, could seem like a miniscule or vast group. For those who don’t know much about K-pop, we’d like to provide a bit of statistical context: The LA Times reported that, on average, Netflix users watch 10.7 hours/month, but users of a popular K-drama website called “Drama Fever,” watch 53.9 hours/month. Though K-pop is still seen as a subculture in many countries, fans are extremely dedicated and bond globally about their favorite idol group members. As of now, EXP’s current fan base is mainly international and English-speaking, but our marketing does aim to target Korea, China and Japan (though we would like to market to other Asian countries, our team’s linguistic ability is limited to those 3, for now.) Some of our most dedicated fans are based in Qatar, Argentina, Brazil and France. On a local level, EXP’s main fans in New York are those who have had the opportunity to meet EXP and attend their performances.
I’m Making a Boy Band. Photography by Wei Hsinyen, Courtesy of IMMABB
YCL: Can you talk about the concept of “cultural technology,” which dates back to, perhaps, the philosopher Simondon, but was only really recently formalized—and in a very different context—with the creation of business programs in South Korean cultural exports. How relevant is this concept to your practice?
Very. We represent all the things that are not supposed to be part of the K-pop idol machine. We have no professional knowledge or resources to make a K-pop idol group, which are often known for their robot-like perfection. Instead, we have created a multi-layered idol group that raises question on the formula or premise of K-pop industry.
In order to understand the K-pop formula, we should go over the idea of ‘Culture Technology’ (CT), the term made ubiquitous by Lee Soo-man, founder of one of the biggest entertainment companies in Korea. His company, SM Entertainment, is responsible for making K-pop what it is today by setting the standard of perfection and work ethic expected from the young K-pop tween trainees until their eventual debut as an idol group. SM also created and perfected the characteristics we see in K-pop boy bands. Specifically, that they be typified as young, “fresh,” cute, and pretty, rather than handsome, and have a soft masculinity that is non-threatening. They are safe, polite, humble, obedient, docile, wholesome and hard-working.
This archetype has a lot to do with how K-pop functions in an international political setting. K-pop idols, unlike American celebrities, are considered national heroes or cultural ambassadors. In other words, they are very effective government PR tools. And I think this is a good place to decode what ‘Culture Technology’ means in contemporary South Korea.
People bring up Jody Berland’s use of ‘Cultural Technology’ in 1992 to explain the concept, but in Korea this term was shaped by Won Kwang-Yeon, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). He submitted a report to the presidential office in July 2001 using the term in which CT was defined as:
In a narrow sense, technologies used in the value chain of culture content from the planning, commercialization, and loading to media platforms, to distribution, and in a wide sense, complex technologies which are necessary for enhancing added value to cultural products, including knowledges and knowhow from humanities and social science, design and art, as well as science and engineering.
CT was adopted as one six core technological engines for Korean national economic growth in the 21st century in the early 2000s, in part because of the success of Lee Soo-man application of CT to K-pop.
For example, he believes that Korea should export their culture to China, the biggest emerging market, to generate enormous profits. In 2012, SM produced EXO in 2 different units: EXO-K, which performs in Korean for a Korean audience, and EXO-M, which performs the same songs in China in Mandarin for a Chinese audience. This move shows SM’s interest in producing K-pop as a national product, emphasizing the idea that K-pop is made by Korea rather than made in Korea.
Though CT is brought up so frequently in Korea, what it means to define culture as an objective, goal-oriented entity is rarely discussed. The public also seems to readily accept the complex term and concept––one that implies that the quality of culture can be evaluated; that one culture is better than another. And this is where we want to start the conversation through our project, “I’m Making a Boy Band,” that exists in multiple stages as well as different iterations and forms of dispersion.
I’m Making a Boy Band. Courtesy of IMMABB
YCL: I’m interested in the female gaze under technological culture as manifested in EXP. What is your vision of K-pop in the future, and how will women with technology inflect it?
The fact that the government’s and CT’s ‘products’ (that is, living, breathing idol groups) are catered to the female gaze highlights women powerful consumers. The tremendous value of K-pop in developing and expanding the nuances of female fandom is also to be recognized. By aiding in the elimination of many taboos around the dialogue of female sexuality, K-pop enacted a shift in sentiment among the general public in relation to the everyday perspective of femininity as a whole.
However, the boundary between agency and desire is complicated because CT is engineered to generate desire, and enhance or, in some cases, eliminate genuine sentiment. The female gaze––and its power and agency––isn’t acknowledged to have inherent value, but is reduced to monetary value in a corporate machine.
Our interest is not to shame the K-pop industry for giving fans what they want/seemingly want/are told to want. But, with regard to our fan base, (which, is not limited to female-identified), we are interested in acknowledging the female gaze as one of inquisitive power.
As genuine fans and consumers of K-pop, we are aware of what it is like to be on the receiving end of this manufactured CT catered to the female gaze. We initiated this bizarre and multi-layered project with the awareness that CT effectively manipulates and disempowers the female gaze and mechanizes the genuine desire of fans. As producers who align directly with the consumers, we aim to use our female gaze, for the female gaze, through a nuanced and critical process. In doing so, we would like to create a healthier relationship between the producers and consumers of K-pop by acknowledging how CT could be used to disrupt the cycle of consumption by imposing questioning, rather than promoting mere product digestion.
I’m Making a Boy Band. Photography by Jhe Ming Hsu, Courtesy of IMMABB
YCL: None of the EXP boys are Koreans, but they are taught to sing and act like Koreans. Are there interesting identity “crises” happening in this band?
To clarify, EXP are taught to sing and speak Korean but they are not taught how to “act like Koreans.” Part of their training is to develop an understanding of Korean culture, but more specifically, the performativity of Korean idol boys. We are aiming to teach them about being “idols,” and how to embody it. This is a specific facet of contemporary Korean culture. We do not claim that Korean culture itself is a technology, and therefore it cannot be taught by us (it would be extremely problematic for us to think so).
Those who have learned a second language are probably familiar with the core concept that you have to garner curiosity and passion for the culture to properly speak the language. It is natural that the boys question aspects of Korean culture that they may have trouble grasping. In addition, sometimes earnest attempts at learning Korean could be categorized as ignorant or highlight certain Western/ethnocentric privileges that are being made aware in such acts as this one:
“I’m trying to imitate our teacher’s accent”
“She doesn’t have an accent, she is just speaking Korean.”
“I know but I’m trying to imitate how she’s speaking.”
“Okay, but you just sound offensive…”
We wouldn’t define such instances as crises, but we do make sure to note that when they are questioning aspects of Korean culture it should always be inquisitive, not demeaning.
I’m Making a Boy Band. Photography by Da Ping Luo, Courtesy of The Jewish Museum
