AliceOnPaperVol4

2009 JUNE / VOL.4

EXHIBITION INFO.in Seoul

INTERVIEWHyun-jin Lee

WHAT YOU NEED FOR YOUR NEW MEDIA ART WORKS

COVERSTORY tag.3

WHAT YOU NEED FOR YOUR NEW MEDIA ART WORKS

3AliceOnPaper VOL.4Media Art Database & Online Archive AliceOn

Who are New Media Artists? To answer

that question in a more simplified way

by asking whether they are technicians

or artists, the answer would be the lat-

ter. But without the understanding of

the ‘technique’ or the ‘knowledge of the

technique’, it is difficult to be a true media

artist. As the art of photography began

with the invention of camera, New Media

Art established its genre through the

birth of diverse media technology. New

Media Art has now passed the stage that

received attention for simply being differ-

ent. After achieving its reputation as ‘new

wave’, it has now exceeded its boundaries

within its genre, and is trying to achieve

‘hidden technology’ instead of simply

satisfying its New Media-ness on the

surface through the use of its materials.

At the same time, the growth in the use

and the development of new mediums,

editing applications, and users who are

familiar with the concept of ‘Open Source’

and capable of using such tools have

increased the involvement and the sharing

of New Media Art. Through these changes,

many students, artists and producers

who are working on New Media Art or are

trying to incorporate it in their projects are

constantly increasing. The people who are

trying to understand the process of the

making of New Media Art are like those

who are trying to understand the camera

and photography in order to take a good

photo.

AliceOn’s third Cover Story is an introduc-

tion, which briefly covers general idea

of the environment and the process, for

those who want to understand New Media

Art. Certainly it would be impossible to

touch all parts of New Media Art in such a

small project, but we hope we can offer an

easy way into the topic, which not many of

the public is familiar with.

In order to discuss the tools for New

Media Art, we must first decide the

boundaries of the genre and define the

range of the ‘tools’. For photography, a

photo needs more than just camera; light,

artificial light, exposure meter, reflec-

tors, darkroom, photographic paper, and

the developer exists and influences the

finished work. Not too different from such

kind of set-up, New Media Art’s produc-

tion environment and its tools exist

diversely with ‘computer’ in the center of

its process. If one desires to work with

New Media Art, he or she needs to be

able to communicate with, or control the

media called the ‘computer’; one needs to

learn how to change one’s language into

a language a computer can understand.

Thus, language is a crucial element for the

production, and such language is called

the language of programming. C, C++, and

JAVA script are the well known examples

of this ‘language’ we are discussing. But

that doesn’t mean that we must under-

stand these tags—JAVA, C++, Action

Script, LINGO, Phython, Design by Num-

bers, Small Talk—completely in order to

work with them. There are other numer-

ous software systems with the addition

of graphic interface that is meant for the

wider range of users. There are so many

different types of software that it is dif-

ficult to name all of them. These software

systems are developed as a merchan-

dise or distributed to the public for free.

Sometimes the creator opens and shares

his or her program and offers the masses

collaborative editing or creating of the

manufacturing or upgrading of their soft-

ware. For these reasons, the understand-

ing of the open source and open platform

becomes crucial. In addition, hardware for

production and software to control such

hardware exist. The tools we are about to

introduce must be understood within the

big boundaries of the production envi-

ronment, and although not specifically

created for New Media Art or interaction

itself, if it is widely used by artists for New

Media Art it could be understood as one of

those tools or environments we have been

discussing about.

As we are about to discuss the environ-

ment and the tools for the creation of New

Media Art, we are faced with another prob

AliceOn Coverstory TAG.3

Introduc-ing New Media Art Produc-tion Tools & Environ-ment

lem; there are too many languages and

software out there. So the ones that will

be introduced are—judged from the edi-

tor’s subjective point of view—the ones

that are popular or worth paying attention

to. The works that are used as examples

are the ones that clearly show the influ-

ence of the production environment, and

the ones that focus on using a specific

tool or show the creative use of it.

Before we start, we must keep in mind

that the improvement of the content or

the value of New Media Art is as important

as the of use the tools or the techniques

we are about to discuss; these technolo-

gies support the development and offers

new direction for New Media Art itself. We

are fated to master both abilities in order

to successfully understand New Media

Art, which is deeply related to emerging

technology.


ProcessingProcessing is an open source developed

by MIT Media Lab’s Ben Fry and Casey

Reas. It is produced with JAVA, and is thus

run through JAVA applet. Compared to

JAVA, Processing has a simplified pro-

gramming. By using the tutorials, library

and forums in the website even a beginner

can gain basic knowledge of programming

and learn how to make an easy computer

drawing to a more complicated interactive

sources using web cams. Processing is an

important tool that is used in various New

Media Art productions such as Code Art,

Hardware and physical computing using

serial communication. It may be a bit

ineffective to control loaded video files,

but is highly successful in working with

real-time image processing. The works

introduced below are the ones that mainly

used Processing. They are categorized

according to their characteristics and are

selected for being well known in its active

use in that field. Follow the links for more

information.

Tag: OpenframeworksOpenframeworks was once introduced

though AliceOn’s Web Review. When

Processing is a tool formed with JAVA

graphics library, Openframeworks is a C++

graphic library tool. Forte of Openframe-

works is its high speed. As this is also an

open source project, it is constantly

developing by users. Artists who have

used Processing previously are paying a

lot of attention to this tool these days.

Tag: Mobile ProcessingMobile Processing is an open source pro-

gram made by people who want to design

software for mobile phones or creating

prototypes. Mobile Processing has its

foundation in Processing, and shares a

similar form.

Max/ MSP/ JitterWhereas Processing has its basis on typ-

ing, Max/MSP/Jitter has its foundation in

a more straightforward visual interface

programming. Similar to drawing a flow

chart, it can be programmed by connect-

ing all the nods with the lines. It is widely

used because it can easily be handled

without understanding the complicated

principles of programming. MAX is the

basic programming; MSP is the music

related programming; Jitter is the graphic

related programming. They are popu-

larly used for live MIDI control, algorism

composition (which is the basis for MIDI),

synthesizer programming, real time player

and controller, and performances using

Sensor. As for Max/MSP/Jitter, it is popu-

lar for national New Media artists dealing

with sounds.

Tag: VVVVVVVV is a tool used for handling live

images, physical interface, live motion

graphic design, audio, and interactive

video works. Like Max/MSP, VVVV is a

programming tool using a visual program-

ming interface. Currently it is only used

in Windows. Compared to Max/MSP, 3D

graphics function excellently in VVVV.


FLASH / Action ScriptFlash started off as basic software for

web animation, and with the addition of

action script advanced into a professional

software. Action script was made from the

basis of JAVA script like Processing and

thus shares a lot in common. But they dif-

fer in the fact that actionscript has vector

drawing as its basis and it can produce

3D space but is not fundamentally for

3D space construction. Actionscript is a

part of object-oriented programming and

is used widely as a web programming

language. Since serial port is fundamen-

tally impossible to use for Flash, it is more

widely used by mobile program design-

ers or developers instead of New Media

Artists. However, there are some artists

as like Joshua Davis and Erik Natzke who

attract attention for using actionscripts

creatively and artistically.

PythonPython is an object oriented programming

language used for the development of di-

verse types of software. Compared to C or

C++ Phython is easier to learn. Its pro is its

interpreter way, which enables its users to

check the results of its coding immediately

one line at a time. And as it supports di-

verse libraries, even if it is a small amount

of coding one can quickly produce things

such as GUI program. Compared to other

language, Phyton is easy to use C/C++ to

create python module and since its docu-

mentation is well developed, it increases

the efficiency of the works.

Arduino (Tag: Wiring, Gainer)Arduino is an IDE created in order to make

the use of AVR* easier for artists and the

general public. Originally AVR program

needs to go through Compile which uses

coding and WinAvr program, then upload-

ed by connecting ISP equipment on the

board, and other complicated processes

such as debugging. But Arduino equipped

with AVR (usually ATmega 168) charges by

being connected with the computer with

USB and works with coding and uploads in

a lot faster and more convenient way. All

of its code sources and circuit diagrams

are open, and just by connecting on the

Arduino expanded board pin, one can

expand its usage to wireless, MIDI, Blue-

tooth, and multiple sensor module. But it

is dangerous to assume that one can do

everything with just Arduino. As it is easier

to approach, it definitely has its limits.

* AVR: Micro controller chip including the series of

ATMEGA128, ATMEGA8, ATMEGAxxx


AnimataAnimata is an open source real time

animation software created by Kitchen Bu-

dapest’s Peter Nemeth, Gabor Papp, and

Bence Samu. With only a page of an image

one can make an active animation, and

it also contains an interactive projection

ability that can be used in performances.

Through watching the tutorial video, one

can easily learn how to use the tool, and

it is a graphic tool that does not need any

mathematical calculations or coding.

ScratchScratch was mentioned several times on

AliceOn through interviews and national

workshop news. Its form takes a visual

interface programming methods and

since it was meant for teaching students

it is comparatively easy to use. One can

use blocks to make games or animations,

and this program is actively opened and

shared through web.

HYUN_JINLEE

KOREAN ARTIST INTERVIEW


Artist Hyunjin Lee studied drawing in univeristy and in graduate school,

and flew to America to study media art and expanded her scope of art to

media art work. She’s interested in creating a new space that everybody

can share and relate to, showing the reality and imagination through

the screen. She dreams of building a way of communication through

the screen using fresh and various ideas for interaction in a new space,

instead of simple 1-on-1 interaction.


tory art festival, and I made a waterfall.

It was at a ruined factory and there were

plenty of paper boxes. I folded the boxes

and made them into a stairway-shaped

waterfall. And I projected the image of an

waterfall onto the boxes so that it would

look like the water is falling down when

the viewer stands in front of it. This is

one of the things that had been on my

mind - I exhibited once in some gallery

the artwork of projecting the image of fire

onto a pyramid, as all artists are, I was

curious as to how the viewers would react

to my work. I was watching as if I were

one of the visitors, and then some visitors

stretched their hands toward the work and

said “It feels warm,” which gave me a very

interesting inspiration. What they saw a

virtual fire but yet, people were forming a

relationship with it and that’s how I was

led to choose this type of work. The water-

fall, made to make the audience experi-

ence the feeling of actually walking under

a willow tree. I began with painting but as

I made more of this kind of works, I finally

started doing video installation art, which

I had wanted to try from early on.

A.

I studied western painting in college and

in graduate school. Back then, I was hav-

ing a hard time deciding what kind of work

I should do so, I tried a lot of different

things from painting, engraving, to instal-

lation art. Now that I look back, I think

I was just pasting objects on paintings

or I kept trying to express some move-

ments. I was taking a video work class,

and I thought that the video art suited

what I had been seeking as I could project

images that are time-oriented and you

could make stereoscopic screens, rather

than just flat screens, depending on how

you structuralize the screen itself. So

the works that I made back then include

projecting some images of the ocean onto

cubic boxes, and making a pyramid-like

screen and projecting fire on it, and I can

call this type of works Three-dimensional

Screens. The biggest motivation for this

was back in 1999, when there was a fac-

Waterfall 2_video installation_1999

Q.

Your portfolio says that you majored in

painting and media art. What made you

expand your area of art from painting to

media art?


Q.

In your early works like <The Willow> and

<The Waterfall>, you made projections

onto ribbon tapes, paper boxes or news-

papers. Is there a reason that you use

those kinds of objects?

A.

I think I came up with pyramid boxes

or cube boxes as a way to best express

moving images with minimum material in

three-dimensional screens works. I think

I was being very abstract in the work <The

Sea>. I came up with the idea of using

cubic boxes while I was thinking about

how to make an image of the sea. And a

lot of foreigners were interested to know

why I used cubic boxes. It was the most

common question that I got during the

interviews. And in <Waterfall 1>, the boxes

were a replacement of rocks, and the

boxes were used so that the water would

fall when people come near to the water-

fall. When you take a photo of the water-

fall, it’s flat. But if you put boxes where

you see the rocks, you can make it look

like the water falls down over the rocks.

And then, you put more boxes so that it

beetles out, and you can each box feel

like a rock. At first I tried using the boxes,

but then the boxes felt too smooth on

the surface, so I ended up using piles of

newspapers to make it feel more like ac-

tual rocks. You can see some more layers

if you use piles of newspapers. That made

it look more like rocks. In the work <The

Willow Tree>, I hung ribbon tapes on the

ceiling, made them sway by using a fan

and played some cicada sounds. I used

ribbons to illustrate the wind and to give

the images in the video a deeper feeling.

one big fantasy, and my biggest interest

now is how I can express those fantasies.

Q.

Please tell us about one of your works that

you made in America, <Corresponding>.

A.

My early works from the start throughout

the IPT were a stereoscopic-screen works,

corresponding_single channel video,sound, 6min 55sec_2008

and then I had a chance to encounter

different types of interaction media like

sensors, and electronics during my time in

Georgia Tech, but I wasn’t at a level where

I could make masterpieces. I was thinking

about the possibility that imagination and

reality could meet in one space through

the screen, and then I started thinking

about movable screens. Among my initial

works, <Corresponding> had a big impact

on me. To tell you a little about this work,

it’s 6 minutes and 50 seconds long, you

can see a human head is turning right


the willow three_video installation_2000

to left and left to right following a sound

and it starts slow but moves faster later

on. Usually, I rarely use narratives in my

works, but for this one, I made it with the

idea of a climax in mind, so the head turns

faster and faster. If you look at the screen,

there’s an axis at the center. It moves

around this axis, and at first, from the im-

age, it looks like the head is shaking, but

later when you realize the screen at the

back is moving. At first, it looks like a head

but later on when you realize, it’s not a

head and it’s an image of a head. The rec-

ognition changes. People tend to look at

these things a very flat, two-dimensional

way. The image was first projected into a

three-dimensionional form and then again

taken a picture of, so it’s an elaborate mix-

ture of three dimensions and two dimen-

sions. The process that make this work

possible was that, what you see at the last

part is a flat image, but then you can add

one more screen inside the flat image and

I made the screen keep moving. I came

up with this idea by accident and then

thought maybe this kind of movement of

the screen could be some sort of a link.

Q.

In your recent personal exhibition at

Sunggok Art Gallery, I saw this phrase.

“If experiences through art works could

reflect who we are now and become an

experience that transfers us into another

time and space, I, as an artist who works

with media, want to create works through

which I can dream of transition into this

kind of imaginary world through the

screen.” Please tell us more about this

phrase.

A.

I think my recent works are becoming

connected to what I did for the work, <The

Willow Tree>. There’s this work, <Moons

Over you>, and when a viewer enter the

open space, everyone gets to have a moon

of their own. So, the moon keeps follow-

ing you inside the space. And depending

on how much time has passed since you

entered the space, the moon changes its

form from a crescent moon to a full moon.

When other people come in, your moon

will be a full moon and their moons will

be crescent. Through this work, I realized

that artworks can make people experi-

ence what they can’t experience in reality,

because in reality, you can’t have your

own moon. So there is no limit to what

can made throught the screens and what

can be projected there. It’s all up to the

imagination of the artist. My personal life

was reflected on <The Willow Tree>, too.

When I was a student at Seoul National

University, there was a hill called “a

Wuthering Heights” and there were two

or three willow trees at the foot of the hill.

The trees were standing at the very spot

that people walked by, so during the sum-

mer, the branches just would grow and

and touch the faces of those who pass by,

and I really liked those trees. So, I thought

it would be nice if people could walk past

willow trees just like that, so I made <The

Willow Tree>, and the same goes for the

<The Valley>, in which I tried to transform

our everyday experiences into something

that people can experience in the gal-

lery. At that way, people can experience

something unexpected. In case of <The

Willow Tree>, I don’t think everybody

could imagine that they would be able to

see a willow tree inside a gallery. But by

looking at the swaying branches of the

willow tree, people can start their imagi-

nation, and feel like they are in the forest,

remembering their own memories in the

past. In the work <The Valley> as well,

everyone can reminisce about their experi-

ences at a valley through the work in front

of them. What I do is to tranport people

into their memories through these works.

Since I’m working with video now, the

messages that I want to deliver are deliv-

ered through the screens, but depending

on how these screens will evolve through

artistic imagination, I think the audience

can get a variety of experiences.


the visitors to Sunggok Art Gallery was

the valley that I saw, the visitors to the

gallery will remember the valley that they

themselves have visited before. They will

also remember some other places that are

stored in their memories, and I had them

express their memories by having them

scribble on the bridge. I wanted to express

how different times and spaces could be

mixed.

Q.

You also exhibit photos taken in a vari-

ety of places. Did you want to present

them along the same line with the work

<Bridge>, which you have just ex-

plained to us?

A.

Yes, I did. I wanted to show how I made

this work, and how the bridge actually

existed and how it was scribbled on. By

showing both spaces in the same time to

the audience, I wanted help them draw

their own maps.

Q.

Through your three exhibitions so far,

you’ve been using interactive factors in

a variety of works to connect with the

audience. How are you planning to use

interactive factors from now on?

A.

Most likely, I will perform in the similar

way as in the work <Duck and Drake>.

Like I said earlier, I thought pushing a

the willow three_video installation_2000

Q.

In the work <Bridge>, was it in order

to give it a feeling of looking at a valley

that’s far away? You installed a bridge,

and the camera was standing in front of

it and the images of scenes in a valley

were projected. It looked like the place

in the video was not a place in Korea but

somewhere overseas. Did you want to

show some connection between here and

a foreign place, or did you want to show

the place in the video itself?

A.

The place itself wasn’t important in this

work. I didn’t go to the valley in order to

film it personally. I went there to film the

calm lake, but maybe because it was a

holiday, there were a lot of tourists there.

When I went to the place where I was

originally planning to shoot, there were

some children plaing over the stepping

stones. I wanted to film the calm lake but

then the kids wouldn’t leave, and they

stayed there talking and playing. So I was

waiting there, with my camera stationed

there, but then it hit me that the scene of

the kids playing looked really pretty. I felt

as if the kids were actors and actresses

in a play and I was in the audience. This

itself was very interesting. There were

some stepping stones near where the

kids were playing, and I saw some very

clear reflections of the kids on the water

around the stepping stones, and I thought

it would be interesting to film the kids and

their reflections on the water. So I started

shooting. And when I finished shooting, I

had taken the footage of the kids talking

to themselves and to their parents, and

also some passers-by talking to me, and

the water reflections of all these things

that happened, in one video.

The picture frame of the video could only

show the kids playing, but the audio could

deliver all the sound from the surround-

ings. So I thought, I wanted to share what

I saw and experienced there, with the au-

dience here, and that the images were not

enough. So I installed a bridge, and I let

the audience look at the situation again

and I filled the space with sound. But I

wanted to distinguish the traces of the

kids on the water more delicately. So I was

thinking, and as you can see in the video,

the kids don’t leave the place at once

when they have to go. They keep coming

back a few times. So they leave the place

as if they were leaving a theatrical stage.

I was thinking, these kids might remem-

ber having played in this valley after they

grow up, and this valley might remember

these kids too. A lot of people remember

this valley, but no one thinks that the val-

ley would remember us. I think the traces

of the kids toward the end of the video

express this message. So I’ve installed the

bridge in the gallery for that effect, and

as you can see there are lots of scribbles

written on the surface of the bridge.

The bridge remembers the people who

have been here, through those traces of

scribbles. I thought that the valley would

still remember us, so I had the bridge

scribbled on, to show this to the view-

ers. So, even though what I’ve shown to


button and seeing a reaction was too

simplistic. In reality, you can catch what

I’m saying not only by what I say, but also

through looking into my eyes and at my

facial expressions. Everything connects

with everything else and leads to the next

step of conversation. I think the interac-

tion of reality should be integrated in to

the interactive art. Many artists devalu-

ate interactive art and think it is not good

enough or too simple. But I want to try

different approaches and make interaction

art something more diverse, from which

you can expect more unpredictable results

like our reality.

Q. Do you have any plans for exhibitions

or works this year?

A.

I’m preparing a work about <Encoun-

ter>, and I have some ideas. I want to

develope these ideas further. It is not de-

cided for sure yet, but I think I’ll be having

exhibitions at about two places.

Thank you for your time.


ripplecast_interactive installaton_2008

EXHIBITION INFO. IN SEOUL

Political Mirror_ Noh Sun Tag

Trunk Gallery2009.05.14~06.16www.trunkgal lery.com

Re:Membering-Next of JapanAlternative Space Loop & Doosan Gallery2009.05.14 ~ 06.25www.gal leryloop.comwww.doosangal lery.com

The Sublime_ Kang Ai Ran The space of Heterotopia2009.05.15~06.15www.gal lerysimon.com

End of the Rainbow_ Jinnie Seo

Mongin Art Center2009.05.21~07.19www.mongin.org

and GREEN_analoge + digital + greenstartCommunity Center2009.06.03~06.08

100 Years of Korean CartoonNational Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea2009.06.03~08.23www.moca.go.kr

The Cinematic-MontageSeoul Museum of Art (Nam Seoul Annex Building)2009.06.06~08.23www.seoulmoa.org

EXPosition of mythology-ELectronic technologyNJP Art Center2009.06.12 ~ 10.04www.njpartcenter .kr

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