Rehearsal of anxiety

F Anna Lim 

Photographer Anna Lim's series »Rehearsal of Anxiety« (2016-2018) was inspired by the constant feeling of anxiety prevalent within South Korean society due to the omnipresent threat of a North Korean attack and its portrayal in the media. Collaborating with one hundred and nine volunteers for her series, Lim visualizes societal anxiety through a fictional dystopia called the »Seoul Missile Attack,« replicating and reflecting the media's handling of societal unrest with dramatically portrayed scenes of tragedy. By imitating tragic terror images depicted in mass media, Lim aims to expand the perception of societal disasters on a personal level and question the authenticity and sensationalism of media's portrayal of pain. Her art critically explores the distribution system of media coverage on social disasters and human suffering, blending fiction and reality to question the nature of true tragedy.