Sujin Lee

Rosha
16mm film, B&W, silent
04:27
2022

The Rorschach Inkblot Test was created by Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist, in 1921. The test employs a series of ten inkblot cards, and the test taker is asked to provide their perceptions on the presented images. The test was considered effective in identifying and diagnosing schizophrenia and was administered to Nazi war criminals in an attempt to understand the Nazi personality. Often criticized as pseudoscience, the Rorschach is still used and remains controversial. The test is often referred to as "Ro-sha" (short of Rorschach) in Korea. The film Rosha tells stories told by a girl named Rosha. It is a photogram of the ten inkblot images on B&W 16mm film. The images overlap, break apart, leaving impressions on the film surface. When the film projected, the printed inkblots turn into Rosha's glossollia,* which lies between language and non-language.

*Glossolalia: often understood in a religious context, it refers to incomprehensible speech in an unknown or imaginary language.

-A digital scan of the 16mm film is available for exhibition and screening.

© Sujin Lee