K-pop Idols: Victims of Sasaeng Fans

My goal for this project was to create the feeling of "twisted/shock" in a controlled, contained experience. From obsessed, stalker fans that break into dorms to serious anti-hate fans who have the intent to kill, nothing creates the uncomfortable feeling quite like what Sasaseng fans give off. I decided to incorporate as many reasonable things to represent the many actions real Sasaeng fans have done to K-pop idols.

My experience was contained in a small classroom and consisted of three parts.

As you walk into the room, you're greeted by a chalk board covered with posters of top K-pop idols smeared with hate and blood. As you walk closer, you'll notice the profile pictures of your peers defaced the same way. A few names painted with blood are thrown in between.

Initially seeing your face and your picture dripping with blood was supposed to create a shock as you see yourself in the same category and status as idols.

As you finish with the chalkboard, you'll notice a lone teddy bear facing up on the wooden table. A glove sits besides it for your convenience.

After you don on gloves, you pick up the bear. As you turn it over, you see an opening glazed with blood. You proceed to stick your hand in and pull the first thing that comes out - a menstrual pad stained with blood. As you continue to pull out the stuffings, pieces of handwritten notes fall out.

The period pad represents one of the well-known incidents that has happened to idols. 2PM's Taecyeon received a letter written in the discharged blood sprinkled with pubic hairs and a confession, "You cannot live without me". The notes are real translated messages uploaded onto social media sites addressed to some idols. A few lines are from a fan who showed up unexpectedly along with many others to an idol's brother's wedding and crashed it, warning if they kept on ignoring them, they "really don't know what we would do next".

I brought in some Choco Pie infused with blood to represent a time when an idol received a cake but when it was tested it contained poison. Idols receive lots of gifts from fans, and birthday/congratulatory cakes are a common one.

Lastly, as you look up over your right shoulder, you see live performances of K-pop bands performing. Due to some technical difficulties with a projector, it was shown in all red when originally it was supposed to have an old, aged film look.

The reactions to the chalkboard was the most successful. I know I could have gone more overboard by having more posters layered on top of each other and more blood. If I were to do this again, I would have maybe stuck to the medium of just the board and pin up headlines of Sasaeng fans and snippets of stories so it would be more effective and more powerful with all of it collected in one place. I could have definitely made it more gruesome with different props and weapons if I was allowed to. Overall, I think this was a brief, tip of the iceberg introduction to the world of Sasaeng and there are many ways it could made to be a more immersive experience.