Jung Yeondoo envisioned this video as part of his ongoing Syncopation series, which he began in 2024. In this sensory exploration of historical memories and personal narratives, Jung first produced a video of rewriting a letter by Yu Kil-Chun, collaborating with Chi Minseok, a painter based in Mexico. Well-versed in East Asian ink technique but unfamiliar with Western penmanship, Chi’s lettering mirrors Yu’s experience. The artist and the calligrapher studied Yu’s letters closely, carefully treated the paper with stains and rehearsed multiple times. As Jung noted, “Everyone has different habits and timing when it comes to pressing and moving their pen across paper.”

Syncopation #15 includes music performed by Boston-based jazz musician Noa Zebley. The performance was filmed in one take in Salem’s historic Ames Memorial Hall, as Zebley improvised onstage while responding in real time to the calligraphic gestures unfolding onscreen. Her breath-infused performance on wind instruments, punctuated with long pauses, channels the emotional undercurrents of the letter into sound and gesture.